Blood Slayer
by SpikyStar
Summary: Harry is a new creature never heard of before, he's a half Vampire the only one in existance! He hunts down bad Vamps! After being abandoned as a baby, please review it I hope its good! Its going to be long and have violence involved! No Slash!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Neville, Ron and Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table at the sorting ceremony waiting for the first years to be brought out so they could start eating.

'Come on' moaned Ron 'it's not like they had to swim across the lake!'

'Oh be quiet Ron, honestly all you think about is your stomach' answered Hermione reproachfully 'We're sixth years now we have to set an example'

'The two of you be quiet!' cut in Neville 'you sound like an old married couple'

The two of them turned to glare at Neville but after a few seconds all three of them began laughing. They were the Golden Three and Neville was the chosen one, he who had defeated Voldemort when he was only a child.

Dumbledore stood up his robes flowing dramatically behind him

'Welcome' he said his voice filling the great hall 'to another year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before we begin the sorting I wish to introduce you to some new teachers'

Dumbledore gestured to a few new faces 'This year we have another Defence against the Dark Arts teacher to share the workload with Professor Lupin, we hope that two teachers will allow for more practical lessons to be taken more often', grins and smiles followed this statement

'May I present to you Professor Black, who is joining us after being cleared of all charges thanks to Mr Longbottom, Miss Granger and Mr Weasley he brings much experience to the job'

A few worried mutterings came with the general applause following this announcement and mutterings of

'Their letting Black teach Kids!'

'My parents are going to complain'

'I don't care if he was cleared I still think he killed that family'

'Aurors weren't they?'

'Yeh! didn't their kid die as well'

'I think he's still alive'

'What's his name?'

'How the Hell should I know!'

However most clapped loudly glad that they were getting Sirius as a teacher

'Silence!' roared Dumbledore 'The matter is closed. Next we move onto Professor York who has come on as our new Muggle studies teacher'

He gestured to an elderly looking witch, there was scattered applause from the Hall and a few boo's from the Slytherin table

'This year we also have an exchange student from The Hanskida Collage which is situated in Helsinki, Finland' Dumbledore paused to survey the assembled students 'This is an not a common occurrence so I hope all of you in his year will welcome him fully'

When Dumbledore had finished his speech many pupils leaned forward with interest as the Hall doors opened and the first years walked in led by Professor McGonagall behind them, at a slight difference an older lad followed.

The boy had on the school uniform but on him it looked cool and dangerous, he was a tall person with a slim and muscled physique. He had long black unruly hair that reached his shoulders it was tied in a pony at his neck. He was unbelievably pale almost as if he had been drained but somehow he managed to look healthy, his eyes were covered by dark glasses underneath you could faintly make out two green orbs that seemed to glow in another worldly way. He swept between the tables as if he was merely floating as apposed to walking at all. The students watched him with faint foreboding he on the other hand barely glanced in their direction.

--

Harry's heart was pounding in his mouth, the sheer volume of people was unnerving to say the least especially when they all seemed intent on watching his every move. Harry was a trained fighter and had learnt how to survive the hard way, but lots of people staring made him uneasy. Harry suddenly realised he wasn't walking as heavily as a 'human' should. Concentrating he tried to make his manner more brisk and less ethereal.

'It's ok' he thought to himself 'No one's going to find out your secret. Their probably not even interested'

What was it Kay had said to him before he left, oh yeh!

'Give them no reason to suspect anything, and they won't'

Harry wished he was going back to the Hanskida Collage instead of Hogwarts but he had been told it was necessary to come to check on the 'situation' in Britain and as he was underage it was compulsory to go to school. Not. He thought to himself that he still needed to attend school he had been taught in all area's of magic to be the best.

Calmer now than he had been before Harry surveyed the Grand Hall and the teachers in it. Two of the teachers at the front were watching him with confusion as if they recognised him from somewhere. 'Which' Harry thought to himself is impossible as he had left the country when he was eight years old after numerous foster homes and of course the, incident. He had found sanctuary in Finland and now he was back again in this dammed country.

Names were being called out by Professor McGonagall and anxious first years sat down on the stool to be sorted. One unfortunate girl tripped over her slightly to long new robes and fell flat on her face to a huge amount of laughter, the girl was then sorted into Hufflepuff were she fled with a bright red face nearly tripping over her robes again in her rush.

'Stop Laughing' scolded Hermione to Neville and Ron 'Honestly the poor girl looks mortified!'

'I know!' laughed Ron

'That's what makes it even funnier' joined in Neville smirking

'HARRY POTTER' Professor McGonagall read out loudly 'SIXTH YEAR'

Harry walked slowly to the stool and trying to look unfazed he sat down and waited for the hat to be put on his head. At the announcement of his name the two teachers had glanced at each other in surprise. Harry felt his concern deepen, all he wanted was to stay under the radar and draw as little attention to himself as possible.

'_Hello Mr Potter' _spoke the hat_ 'I was expecting you five years ago. Never mind though you're here now. To which house you should go in, that is the question. You have plenty of brains, no doubt about that, so not Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw's not an option either, you have too much courage for that. I don't think Slytherin would suit you though, you have too much of a sense nerve for that and the deep desire to help others is here._

'I do not have a deep desire to help others' thought Harry to the hat 'I have a desire to help me'

'_Don't try and fool yourself' _replied the hat_ 'The desire is strong. There is something else here though' _the hat remarked thoughtfully _'Something I am unfamiliar with, a strange magic'_

'What house are you putting me in then' Harry cut in, trying and get the hat of the vein of strange magic

'_I suppose it'll have to be __**Gryffindor**__!' _the hat eventually shouted

Loud applause came from the Red and Gold table and Harry stood up and went over to itcautiously thinking that the hat had been to close to discovering his secret. If they found out he was half vampire then the ramifications would be huge.

The three teenagers watched as Harry headed over to their table he was heading in their direction. The boy looked distracted and worried.

'Is this place free?' he asked Hermione gesturing to the seat next to her he spoke with a slight accent but he didn't sound particularly Finnish in fact he sounded pretty English

'Yes of course please come and sit by us' Hermione answered smiling warmly at Harry

Harry returned the smile faintly and sat down

'I'm Hermione' she introduced herself 'and this is Ron' she pointed to a lanky red headed boy opposite her, who smiled friendlily at him 'and Neville' she gestured to the lad on her left

'Alright' Neville smiled as well

'Yes thank you' nodded Harry

'How come your accent is English' cut in Dean Thomas 'I thought you came from Finland'

'I do' replied Harry hesitantly, but what, he supposed was the harm in saying where he had lived 'I used to live in Britain when I was younger, before I moved to Finland'

'Did you go with your family' asked Ron

'I have no family' said Harry offhandedly 'They were killed'

Ron's ears burned in embarrassment 'Sorry mate, I didn't realise'

'It's okay, they died when I was young, and I can't remember them'

'Harry Potter' Hermione repeated his name 'your parents were James and Lily right?'

'Yes' Harry replied 'That's them'

'I know how you feel' said Neville 'I don't have my parents either, but I have my Grandmother'

Before Harry could reply Dumbledore began to speak again 'Now the sorting is over I wish you a good year, and I remind you the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds as is Hogsmeade unless you have permission. Now to the feast and I hope you enjoy it!'

Food appeared in front of them filling the empty serving platters everyone tucked in apart from Harry who regarded the food thoughtfully

'This' he thought 'will be a problem'

Harry didn't eat solid food under any circumstances the slightest morsel was enough to send him retching into a bathroom. He didn't completely rely on drinking blood like all other vampires thank goodness he could get by on a pint a month if absolutely had to, but he did prefer once a fortnight, whereas normal vamps needed to feed every other day, which was at least something to be grateful for. Harry looked at the silver goblet in front of him, it was filled with pumpkin juice, frowning slightly Harry used some wandless magic and changed the liquid into butterbeer. There was still the problem of the food however

'Aren't you eating' asked Hermione

'I'm starving' Ron said stuffing his mouth 'How come your not?'

'I ate on the train' Harry said quickly searching for another answer 'and it will take a while before I'm used to British food again'

They all looked at him sceptically 'Well if you're sure' Hermione said eying him

'Quite' Harry replied firmly

'Hey what's wrong with our food' laughed Dean

'It's not as good as Irish food' interjected Seamus 'Not by half!'

'My Grandmother's stew is my favourite' Neville added wistfully

Harry was relieved the topic had gone off him and glancing down the table he spotted some soup that didn't look very thick. Turning to the third year next to him he requested her to pass it to him. When Harry had some in a bowl in front of him he spotted the next problem. Silverware

Silver was yet another barrier for Harry it didn't burn him like it did real vampires but on contact it brought out an allergic rash and on prolonged contact left blisters on his skin. Harry tentatively touched his spoon the immediate contact left an angry rash on the tip of his finger

'Fuck!' he thought

Harry couldn't transfigure silver no matter how much magic he used. so instead he reached into his robes and pulled out a pair of thin black gloves, it would look odd but there was no way around it putting them on he picked up his spoon without it hurting and was about to raise it to his mouth when he realised if he put the spoon in his mouth it would hurt like shit! 'Stupid' he thought to himself as the same would happen with the goblet if he touched it.

Harry may not have to eat, but he sure as hell was thirsty. Sighing he put the spoon back down. Seamus was looking at his gloves with confusion

'What's with the gloves' he asked curiously drawing the attention of the other sixth years.

Harry glanced round around at his sudden audience feeling slightly unnerved. He had always stayed out of any limelight cast his way before choosing to avoid any unwanted attention. Yet it seemed he was the new kid here and here Everyone! was interested in the new kid.

'Erm' Harry mumbled out not sure if his revelation of his would create suspicion Harry decided the best thing to do would be to make something up 'At my a…my old school…we erm… had to wear gloves at meal times I don't know why it was…um… just one of the rules'

'You have to wear gloves as a rule?' Ron said confused

'I'm sure it's completely normal in your schools culture' Hermione looked to Harry for confirmation

'We don't have a rule like that, thank goodness' Neville laughed.

'That's good' Harry lied wondering what the people at Hanskida would say if they heard him making up such stupid things, Harry was starting to feel like a right prat 'It always felt a bit weird'

Trying to think of a way to get them off the topic Harry said 'tell me about this Hogsmeade though it sounds like an interesting place'

They all jumped in telling Harry about the small village as well as about Hogwarts itself and the different passages and paintings. They got so wrapped up in it they didn't notice Harry didn't have a single thing to eat or drink. A few hours later they stumbled out of the hall laughing as they walked.


	2. Boggarts

Chapter Two

Harry climbed through the portrait hall awed with the sheer splendour of the place and how different it was to Hanskida which had had only 50 pupils.

'Were up here' Neville pointed to a staircase 'You get the spare bed in our room, it used to be Jason Lloyd's but he left last year after his family moved to France'

Harry followed Neville, Dean, Seamus and Ron up to a circular room, his trunk was next to one of the four poster beds. Harry walked over to it and looked inside to check everything was still the way he had left it. The trunk was enchanted with four locks, in lock one was a small library of books in different languages some were new but many were very old. In lock two his clothes were kept heaped in haphazardly muggle mixed with Wizard. The third lock kept his school books and items such as quills and his scales for potion making. The fourth and final lock revealed a fully stocked weapons section complete with knives, daggers and stakes as well as Holy Water crucifixes and a few vials of blood. This was the lock Harry guarded the most fiercely in case someone was to discover his secret.

Harry was the only half vampire in existence, never had there been another. Harry unlike other bloodsuckers could walk in the sunlight (but 12 lunch gave him a serious headache if he was outside). He didn't rely constantly on blood to survive every other day (but he was partial to a pint of leopard blood, he didn't mind human but he avoided it) and he wasn't affected by Holy items. Many things though Harry had in common with the true vampires, he had heightened senses, amazing reflexes and he was extremely fast. While real vampires could fly however all Harry could do was float slighty. Harry was also alive with beating heart, as apposed to usual Vamps which were just like the animated dead.

It was just a pity, he supposed that they all wanted to kill him. In their eyes he was an abomination and to be treated with utter abhorrence. This way neither side would welcome him.

Harry bade goodnight to the other four boys before rolling into his bed. He didn't sleep however instead he lay looking up at the ceiling and wishing he was outside, the night was his favourite time, it was his domain, and to be forced to sleep during it was just fucking annoying.

--------------------------

The next morning Harry got up early, the rising sun always gave him a headache causing him to wake at sunrise every morning, it was like a damned alarm clock that never shut up.

Rolling out of bed Harry was careful not to disturb any of the other lads, in order to make the least noise possible he floated to his trunk and pulled out the forth key. Slotting it in to the well oiled lock he opened the trunk, and pulled out one of the vials of blood. Harry checked round to make sure no one was watching but none of the curtains so much as twitched in the dark room, Harry pulled the lid of the vial and gulped the blood down savouring the sweet taste, he could feel his teeth elongating to form fangs in his mouth, and the familiar change when his eyes switched colours.

When the blood was finished Harry placed the empty glass vial back into the trunk, making a mental note to collect more when possible. He focused carefully and his fangs shrunk back instantly to return to normal teeth. Making sure there was no blood on him, Harry exited the dorm and headed to the Great Hall.

As he entered Harry noticed the room was very empty, it was seven in the morning and only a scattered amount of pupils sat around, the teachers hadn't arrived yet as they didn't eat until eight (something he had heard from Dean at last nights feast) Harry sat at the end of the Gryffindor table closest to the doors in case he had to get away quickly from any unwanted attention.

Harry spent the next 50 minutes making it look like he had eaten breakfast, the plates were china for the morning but the cutlery was still silver. Harry got two pieces of toast from the rack in front of him and tore the crusts off making lots of crumbs on the plate, Harry then vanished the remainder of the bread leaving only crumbs and crusts, he then pulled on his gloves and picked up his knife dipping it in marmalade he propped it against his plate giving the illusion he just had marmalade on toast for breakfast.

Looking at his watch Harry realised it was half seven and the hall was beginning to fill up with students. Quickly Harry got a bowl and splashed milk in it he then crumbled up a cornflake in the milk and pushed the cereal to the side just as Ron and Neville entered the hall spotting Harry they made in his direction, seeing this Harry groaned slightly, he didn't want friends they invariably got in the way especially if they weren't trained properly.

'Morning Harry' Neville said sitting down and grabbing a plate of sausages and pushing them onto his own plate

'Morning' Harry replied watching the two of them warily

'Morning Harry' Ron yawned slumping down next to Harry and glanced at the plate of sausages 'save some for me won't you, you greedy bugger'

'Sure' said Neville rapidly depleting the number on the plate 'Want some Harry?' he asked waving the platter at him

'No thanks' Harry frowned grabbing a cup of coffee 'I already ate'

Hermione hurried into the Hall at ten past eight and joined them at their section of the table

'Honestly' she grumbled 'I was never as stupid when I was in the first year'

'What's up?' asked Ron

'First years getting lost! That's what'. humphed Hermione 'Have the timetables been handed out yet?'

'No McGonagall's still at the other end of the table' said Neville stuffing his mouth with bacon 'What are you taking?' he asked turning to Harry before Harry could answer however Professor McGonagall arrived next to them

'Morning' she said briskly 'I hope you're settling in well Mr Potter'

'Yes thank you, everyone has been most kind' Harry replied

'Now, what N.E.W.T's did you wish to take this year' she glanced down at his Hanskida results which showed a mixture of Exceeds Expectations and Outstanding for all subjects except for Divination for which he had failed miserably '

'I hope to take Potions, DADA, Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration'

'That looks fine Potter' McGonagall tapped her wand against an empty timetable filling it before passing it to Harry 'I hope you enjoy your time here'

When McGonagall had the attention of the other three Harry took the opportunity to look around the now full hall. Most of the students were just talking with others and moving across to neighbouring tables. The teachers that weren't Heads of House were also conversing with each other.

The two teachers that had been staring at him last night kept glancing in his direction, one had slightly worn robes and the other had long black hair that was lose around his face. They kept looking in Harry's direction then looking elsewhere and pretending they were just looking in general. Harry felt unnerved by this and using his very sensitive hearing he zoned in on their conversation

'How did he end up in Finland?' asked the one with black hair

'I don't know' said the other man 'He looks so much like James its unreal'

Harry jerked back at this the two men had known his Father turning to Neville he pointed out the two men at the teachers table

'Who are they?' he enquired

'The one with long hair is Sirius Black, he's new this year. The one on his right is Remus Lupin, they both teach DADA. Why do you ask?'

'I was just interested' replied Harry 'What are they like?'

'Lupin's cool he's really laid back and Blacks great you would think that 12 years in Azkaban would have got rid of his sense of humour but it hasn't' Neville said smiling

'He was in Azkaban!' Harry said shocked 'And their letting him teach? What did he do?'

Hermione looked slightly uncomfortable 'don't you know who killed your parents?' she asked

'No' Harry answered confused 'There was no one to ask it's not like they were well known '

'Er… well' Hermione stuttered out

'Everyone thought Sirius killed them' Ron said eventually 'but in our third year we found out it was someone called Pettigrew. So we helped clear Sirius who was totally innocent'

'Oh' was all Harry could say not sure what to think of the new information

Harry was spared answering though with the arrival of the post. The owls all fluttered in accompanied by a huge bird that was more an Eagle than an owl. It screeched loudly drawing a lot of attention before swooping towards Harry. It landed softly in front of Harry and stuck out his leg a weatherworn letter attached to it. Ignoring the stares the bird and he was getting, Harry pulled the letter out and opened it. It was written in Finnish

_**Harry,**_

_**I wrote to you to keep you updated of the position here in Finland. Kay and Joe just got back from Indonesia were they were hunting that group of rough vampires. Kay sends word that the vampire community is becoming restless. They are determined to hunt you out, one good thing is that they still don't know who you are.**_

_**I'm leaving for Japan on the 7**__**th**__** of September we got news that there is a large contingent of vamps there hiding out in Tokyo.**_

_**Off the subject of our fanged friends I hope you are ok at Hogwarts and your secret is safe, we still don't know how the magical community as a whole would react to your 'disease'. Promise me you'll stay safe!**_

_**Write to me soon with the situation in Britain**_

_**Alyssa **_

Harry reread the letter making sure he had all of the details before calling flames to his hand and burning the letter to a crisp angrily. Harry could feel the weight of eyes pressing into him from all over. Looking up he glanced at the three Gryffindor's who were also staring

'What's with the letter burning' asked Ron hesitantly

'Saves on rubbish' Harry said simply, the letter had annoyed him, they were off around the world killing vampires and he was stuck in bloody school even Joe got to fight and he was a twat of astronomical proportions!

Behind him in the walkway between tables Harry sensed someone tripping up and a small round object flying towards his head. Without turning around Harry put his hand up into the air and caught the object, twisting around he handed the glass remembrall to the second year lad.

When he turned back round Ron and Neville were staring at him

'Wow' breathed Ron 'now that was cool!'

'Nice reflexes. You should join the quidditch team' agreed Neville 'I think Angelina thinks so to' he gestured to a girl halfway up the table who was trying to get his attention

'NEW BOY!' she yelled unceremoniously 'Quidditch try outs are tomorrow night don't be late!'

'Me on the quidditch team' Harry laughed 'I don't think so'

'What's so funny?' Ron berated 'We need a seeker, I'm the Goalie, Neville, Angelina and my sister Ginny are Chasers and my brothers Fred and George are beaters'

'You should come to the try-outs' nodded Neville 'If you a can fly, if you haven't got a broom, there are spare school brooms'

'I have a broom' Harry said after a small silence 'maybe I will try out for the team. I haven't played a game on a broom in ages, last time I flew, I went from Sweden to Denmark in a night, not what you'd call fun'

Silence greeted this statement before Hermione asked 'Why didn't you use a portkey?'

Harry just smiled at the three curious faces and shook his head before changing the subject

'Are we going to first lesson then?'

'Yeh' Hermione said standing up 'We don't want to be late for DADA its going to be good this year'

In agreement they all stood up and went to leave the hall

-----------------------

Harry followed the other three to the lesson but he hung back from them slightly. Harry was worried, he had only been at the school for one night and already he was at a risk of revealing his secret.

_**Flashback- 11 years ago**_

_A five year old Harry sat in the dark garden of his foster home still wearing the bruises of his previous beating. Harry was being punished for being a freak, his foster father decided that hurting Harry was the only way to make him normal. Of course they made everything seem okay when the social worker came to visit but otherwise he was at their mercy._

_Harry was silently crying in the cold garden he hadn't meant for the glass to break he was just so angry and it had exploded. So now he had to sleep in the dog kennel. A noise in the shadows alerted the small boy, staring into the dark he saw two glowing red eyes the eyes belonged to a pale face and a tall sallow skinned man dressed in black. As Harry watched him his thin mouth broke into a toothy smile and sharp teeth protruded from his red gums._

'_Are you going to scream little boy? Scream as I kill you and rip your throat out' the man whispered 'I like it when they scream!'_

_Harry pounded on the back door with his little fists 'Please let me in Simon!' his small voice broke with a sob 'I promise not to be bad anymore'_

_The man floated over to Harry smiling, noises from inside the house could be heard as his foster parents got out of bed angry at being disturbed._

_Harry turned and faced the man 'I won't scream!' he shouted in his young voice 'The man floated over to Harry smiling, noises from inside the house could be heard as his foster parents got out of bed angry at being disturbed._

_Harry turned and faced the man 'I won't scream!' he shouted in his young voice 'You don't frighten me!'_

'_Don't worry little boy' snarled the man 'I scare Everyone!'_

_With that the man grabbed Harry and sunk his teeth into his neck sucking noisily, the pain was overwhelming and Harry couldn't even so much as whimper. Harry could just barely make out the sounds of Simon and Megan shouting, the man released Harry suddenly and he fell to the floor in a heap, just managing to raise his eyes Harry saw a spray of red fly from Simon's throat before darkness closed in around him._

----------------------

Shaking the images from his head Harry walked into the DADA classroom but the fear and hatred was still lodged in his throat, the other three headed to the front and sat down at seats in the second row. Not wanting to be so close Harry ignored them and dropped his things on a table at the very back in the corner. He didn't want to be anywhere near either of the teachers.

Harry sat in silence ignoring the calls from the front to go an join, them instead he stared out of the window and to the lake, it looked so peaceful and tranquil Harry yearned to swim in it, maybe that evening he would when everyone else was having dinner. Looking out of the window the sunlight had made his eyes sting and he rubbed them distractedly.

'I'm talking to you!' a hot voice said from his left, Harry mentally scolded himself for allowing someone to get so close without him realising

'I said! I'm talking to you answer me!' the voice sounded arrogant and annoying

Harry turned his head slowly to look at the owner of the voice, next to his desk stood a blonde haired thin boy and he was glaring at Harry. Harry just looked at him keeping his face completely blank apart from a slight raised eyebrow.

'What's wrong with you' spat the boy 'you deaf or what! answer me!'

Harry continued staring at the boy as if he was something unpleasant you might find on the bottom of your shoe, inside Harry was annoyed, he liked to blend into the shadows but already he was stuck with this prat who was spoiling for a fight.

'Why should I answer you?' Harry asked in a disgusted voice 'What right have you to speak to me like this?'

'You should answer me because I am Draco Malfoy and I asked you a question'

'Which was?' Harry said in feigned politeness, he looked at Malfoy and gave him the look that had sent more than one vampire crying for his master, Malfoy blanched slightly before fixing his superior expression back on his face

'I asked' Draco hissed out 'what's with the stupid glasses'

'These glasses?' Harry said raising a finger and pointing them to his eyes. Inside he was desperate to whip them off and make his eyes change from green to red

'What other glasses are there?' Draco turned and laughed with his friends, Harry saw Neville, Hermione and Ron making their way over to the table

Harry smiled an evil smile at Draco and whispered a small spell under his breath, Draco looked a bit worried, but desperate not to lose face in front of his cronies he didn't leave. Harry shrugged his shoulders and flicked his wrist immediately Malfoy's mouth slammed shut and sealed itself

'mumph' Draco struggled out of his closed mouth 'thom i'

Draco raised his wand and tried to curse Harry but as he hadn't mastered silent spells it was a waste of time all he succeeded in doing was sending sparks shooting from the tip

'Sorry' Harry smiled his pronunciation of the words getting stronger with each word 'Did. You. Ask. Something. Draco. Malfoy?'

The Gryffindors all laughed at Malfoy who was desperately trying to open his mouth Malfoy was getting more flushed at every passing minute. The Slytherins who had all been laughing with Draco, now withdrew slightly the movement made it clear that Harry had won the fight.

Ignoring everyone Harry turned back and looked out of the window again, he could still hear Malfoy struggling to open his mouth. Using his extra hearing Harry listened, outside of the classroom he could make out the sounds of approaching footsteps, sniffing slightly Harry smelt them to be older than students and Harry knew that the Professors were heading towards the classroom

'Great' he thought to himself 'so much for staying under the shitting radar'

The two Professors entered the classroom to immediate effect, chairs scraped and books thunked as people rushed to their seats. Harry watched it all calmly until only Draco remained standing. His hair was out of place and he had pink cheeks, Harry managed to suppress a small smile at the outrage Draco was displaying who rushed towards Lupin and Black

'whelp e, Oa id i'

Lupin and Black both stared at Draco

'Looks like a lip locking curse' Lupin said thoughtfully

'Definitely' agreed Black 'Quite a good one as well'

'Mobulus' Lupin flicked his wand and Malfoy's mouth burst open

'HE!' he pointed at Harry 'DID IT!'

Harry just carried on watching Draco with continued serenity, not making any attempt to deny the claim Sirius noted, in fact he looked completely uninterested in the fury Malfoy was displaying. Though Sirius really didn't want to punish Harry he knew he had to.

'Well Harry' Lupin prompted Harry

'I did it' Harry said 'he deserved it'

'Be that as it might' Sirius added 'you can't go round cursing people who may or may not deserve it'

Harry just watched the two professors still with the plain look still on his face

'10 points from Gryffindor' cry's of outrage came

'But Professor, Malfoy insulted Harry first' Neville called from the front

'Yeh' Ron joined in enjoying the payback Draco was getting 'He was really rude to Harry as well'

'Is that true?' Lupin asked Draco

'Well, sort of' muttered Malfoy 'but he wouldn't answer me'

'It's not a rule in this school that it is compulsory to answer you' Sirius glanced at Malfoy '10 points from Slytherin as well'

Malfoy glared at Harry before sitting down at his desk. Lupin and Black both walked to the front of the classroom

'Today will be a practical' Sirius started 'Which is why we are both here, unless it's a practical we will be swapping lessons between each other or dividing the class'

'The practical we are doing today' Lupin began smiling 'Is a boggart'

While most of the class was looking apprehensive Harry was downright freaked at what his boggart might become. The last thing he needed was any suspicion surrounding him, there was no way out of it though. Harry tried to work a way around the shape it would definitely become.

'Remember' called Lupin 'What you learnt in the third year. Riddiculas!'

The other sixth years were already forming a queue in front of a box, Harry hesitantly walked up to join the line trying to appear unfazed. Thinking about it though, Harry considered lots of people had the same fear, they were like the bogeyman of the wizarding world.

'No' Harry said to himself 'I can't let them see that fear, maybe I can trick the boggart into reading one of my earlier fears'

Harry was getting nearer and nearer to the front of the line he could see the boggart turn into a giant slug to shouts of 'gross!' from the class. Harry tried to ignore the laughter as the slug blew up like a balloon and focused on his task. In his mind Harry was trying to summon up all of his fear to focus on one of his childhood fears…Simon.

It was Harry's turn next and he hoped it fool the boggart into appearing as Simon instead of his actual current fear. Stepping forward Harry stood before the boggart aware both Lupin and Black were watching him closely, more closely than they had watched any of the other sixth years

The boggart started to change in front of Harry and like Harry had hoped the focused fear made it take the shape of Simon, the slightly balding chubby man was there but so was all the blood that had covered him when Harry had last seen him. The man's throat was torn out and blood coated the front of his clothes

'This isn't right!' Harry heard himself say 'I didn't fear you when you were dead'

gasps came from some of the other students at the sight of the man and the revelation that this man was actually dead.

'No' the boggart Simon said 'You don't fear me. You fear what killed me! What you watched rip my throat out'

The boggart began to change again, however Harry knew the form it would take if he stayed in front of it, not wanting to take the chance of revealing his true fear Harry turned and fled from the classroom, not looking back once.

---------------------

Harry didn't stop until he reached the gates of Hogwarts, when he drew level with them Harry seriously considered jumping over them and apperating off to find some vamps to kill. It was sheer willpower that stopped him going over, Harry knew it was a waste of time hunting vamps in the day, there hiding places would be highly concealed and unless you had former knowledge of them you wouldn't find their coffins.

Harry closed his eyes and tried to calm his rapid breathing, the panic he had initially felt from the boggart was subsiding leaving him instead with anger and embarrassment. A loud bell rang in the distance signalling class change and Harry heard the commotion of hundreds of feet thundering through the corridors.

The headache that Harry had thought he had avoided began pounding incessantly in his head causing Harry to knead his forehead with his fingers in an attempt to stop the pain

'Harry' a voice said from behind him

Harry turned round and saw Black walking towards him up the path

'Not thinking of escaping' he smiled at Harry

'No' Harry said as Black came up next to him 'I'm sorry for leaving your class'

'That's fine Harry, I can understand why you wouldn't want to see the thing you feared most appear in front of you'

Harry looked at him disbelievingly 'You don't mind me running out of your lesson before it's finished'

'Not even slightly' Black surveyed Harry 'Are you ok? you look really pale'

'I'm fine' lied Harry 'You didn't need to come after me though, I'm sure your busy'

Black smiled 'If that was an attempt to get me to go away, it was a rubbish attempt'

Harry couldn't help smiling at the Professor 'I thought it was quite good'

Black laughed 'If you think that was good you need practice' he looked at Harry suddenly serious 'I was wondering if I could talk to you about something though'

'What would that be?' Harry asked suspiciously

'Your parents' Black said quietly 'I think there are some things you should know about them'

Harry watched Black apprehensively, he didn't know much about his parents just that their murder had been ordered by Voldemort until last night he didn't even know who had killed them.

'You were accused of their murder weren't you?' asked Harry

'Yes' Black said hesitantly 'Your Father was one of my best friends I knew him and your Mother at school, we were all very close. When we were younger your Dad, Professor Lupin, myself and that bastard Pettigrew were all best friends'

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, he was learning more about his parents now than he had in the last sixteen years

Black carried on 'When Pettigrew killed your parents I was the immediate suspect so they sent me to Azkaban without a trial, I escaped though and thanks to the capture of Pettigrew by Neville, Ron and Hermione I was cleared'

'I didn't know anything about them' Harry began 'Only that they were murdered'

Sirius looked unhappy 'I heard from Dumbledore that you had a hard life, but I didn't know anything specific'

'No one does' Harry whispered 'and that's the way it's going to stay'

'I wanted to tell you' Sirius muttered 'that when you were born your parents named me as your Godfather, I'm your legal guardian'


	3. Headaches

Thank you for the reviews from Morbid Punk Angel and Waiting not so patiently

I hope my story is good x x x

Action coming in chapter five so look out for it x

Chapter Three

'MY WHAT!' Harry burst out shocked

'Your Guardian' Sirius repeated looking uncomfortable 'I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you earlier, I can't imagine the kind of life you had. Lupin said he tried looking for you about eight years ago when he found out your Aunt and Uncle had given you up. But he was told you had disappeared when you were six'

'The man my boggart turned into' Harry said unsure why he was telling Sirius this 'he was one of my foster parents, he was an absolute bastard'

'Lupin said he recognised him from when he was looking over your files all those years ago' Black replied 'I'm really sorry I wasn't there for you'

'My life was hard' Harry agreed 'but when I was eight I found someone to look after me, he took me to Finland and put me into school'

'What's his name?' Sirius asked interested in who had taken care of Harry

'What was his name' corrected Harry 'It was Rhys, he was killed three years ago'

'I'm sorry' Sirius said looking sad 'What happened?'

'He misjudged a threat' Harry said vaguely 'I don't know what to say about you though, what's going to happen?'

'I thought we could get to know each other' Sirius said hopefully 'get to know each other'

'I suppose that'll be okay' Harry said his voice was plain but inside he was in turmoil, here was someone actually interested in how Harry was. That didn't happen often and he could count on one hand the people he cared about in turn. And now he was finding out he actually had a guardian after all these years it seemed slightly strange.

'I have to go' he said to Sirius 'I'm already late for my next class'

'Bye then' Sirius smiled at him 'You should go and get something from Madam Pomfrey for that headache'

Harry looked at Sirius suspiciously 'How do you know I've got a headache?'

Sirius smiled again his eyes twinkling 'James always looked like that when he had a headache'

Harry smiled at Sirius before turning and going back down the path, as made his way back towards the school Harry was thinking about Rhys

_**Flashback – 8 years ago **_

_Harry wondered down the filthy street looking for somewhere to sleep, it was a wet night and if he didn't find a good place then he would get soaked. In front of him Harry noticed the tell tale signs of a vampire attack, a medium height, solidly built man in smart clothes was being surrounded by a crowd of people with glowing red eyes. The man looked unconcerned to Harry's surprise in fact he looked as if he was looking forward to fighting six vampires. _

_As the Vampires began closing in Harry drew his stake and his silver dagger (it had a wooden hilt) at the same time the man drew a silver sword and a wooden stake from inside his coat. Harry immediately realised this man knew what he was doing_

'_Are you sure you want to attack me?' he asked smirking_

'_You will die human' snarled the lead vamp jumping forward._

_Harry ran forward as well, slamming his stake into the heart of the closest vamps it screamed and turned to dust, the sounds of other dying vamps fell on Harry's ears and he knew the man was holding his own in the fight._

_Harry worked his way through the vamps slamming his knife into the throat of another vamp it immediately began smoking while the vamp was distracted with the pain Harry pushed his stake into its heart._

_The man killed three vamps and turned to a forth, as it rushed forward he swung his sword and lopped its head of killing it instantly. He looked up for more vamps just in time to see an eight year old street urchin finish off the last vamp with scary efficiency, the boy looked up suddenly and saw the man, he glanced worriedly behind him looked at the man again before turning and starting to run off._

'_Wait!' the man called_

_The boy stopped running and turned back to the man_

'_Please don't hurt me' the child whispered_

_I promise I won't hurt you the man smiled 'I'm Rhys. Who are you?'_

'_I'm Harry'_

----------------------

Harry walked back slowly the lesson he was missing was Herbology but he just couldn't be bothered to go and stand in a greenhouse, instead Harry wondered through the school corridors deciding to take Sirius's advice about getting something for his headache.

Harry managed to find the hospital wing without too much trouble, it was bright and airy which surprised Harry who always found hospitals to be cold miserable places. Added to the fact they reminded him of worse times.

Harry found Madam Pomfrey in her office, when he entered she looked at him expectantly

'You would be Mr Potter' she said

'Yes' Harry replied surprised that she knew his name 'how did you?'

'I make it a rule to learn every students name, now what would the problem be?'

'Headache' Harry answered 'I was wondering if I could have some pain relieving potion'

'Do you often get headaches?' Madam Pomfrey asked moving Harry over to a bed 'sit down and let me have a look at you'

'Yes, but I only wanted some pain relief' Harry said leaning away from madam Pomfrey and her wand

'I can't go round giving potions out to every pupil that complains of a headache' Madam Pomfrey tried to get Harry to stop backing away

'For goodness sake' she said exasperated 'I only want to check you out'

'That's the problem' Harry said putting a bed in between himself and the nurse 'I don't like being examined, I'm fine actually my headache isn't that bad'

'SIT!' Madam Pomfrey commanded 'I can see from here you're in pain, and if you don't sit down I'm going force you to'

'This was a mistake' Harry thought to himself 'Why on earth did I willingly come here' but he sat down on the edge of the bed nevertheless

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand at him muttering spells 'Ah yes, I see where the pain is. It's right behind your eyes' she pulled his glasses off 'Follow the wand please'

Harry tracked the wand with his unconcealed eyes, the sudden stream of light made them sting and water he narrowed them instinctively

'Your eyes are extremely sensitive' commented Madam Pomfrey 'I can understand why you would get headaches, I can't do anything about making them less sensitive, I'm afraid but I can give you some eye-drops to protect them, it will also reduce stinging'

'It won't damage my eyesight will it?' Harry asked

'No, it won't, you'll still have the same eyesight as ever, the eye-drops will only reduce the stinging though you'll still need to wear the glasses'

--------------------

It was after lunch when Harry got back to lessons it was fourth period transfiguration, and he had missed charms as well as Herbology, Harry pushed his way into the classroom just in time for the lesson. The only spare seat was near the front and next to Ron, Harry dropped into it and Ron leaned across to speak

'Are you ok' Ron asked 'you left pretty quickly'

'I'm fine' Harry replied 'I just wasn't expecting a boggart first thing in the morning'

'I can understand that' Ron said but before he could say anything else, Professor McGonagall entered the classroom

'This year' began Professor McGonagall 'You start working towards your N.E.W.T.'s this means a lot of hard work is necessary if you are to succeed where others have failed, without the effort you might as well not bother'

The task McGonagall set was transfiguring a plant into a cat. Harry could do it in his sleep, wandlessly and wordlessly. Harry didn't want however, to draw unnecessary attention to himself, he chose instead to wait for someone else to succeed first before completing the task himself

The first to transfigure their plant was Hermione who turned it into a cat in just under twenty minutes Harry decided to wait for another five minutes before giving his wand a limp flick and turning his plant into a black cat, a thing that was not lost on the watchful Professor McGonagall.

Transfiguration led into the last lesson which was potions, as they made their way down to the dungeons Hermione, Neville and Ron talked to Harry who seemed quieter than they had ever seen him.

'So where did you go?' Hermione asked curiously 'you missed loads'

'Did you know that Professor Black was my Godfather?' Harry said suddenly ignoring Hermione's question entirely

'Sirius's your Godfather!' Ron said the surprise evident in his voice

'He's your Godfather' Neville repeated matching the surprise in Ron's voice 'Are you sure?'

Harry treated Neville to a withering look 'I didn't think Hogwarts professors routinely went around lying'

Neville looked a bit discomforted 'Sorry, I just didn't realise he was anything like that'

'He's your Godfather' echoed Hermione thoughtfully 'That would make him your guardian'

'That's what he said' Harry confirmed

'Don't you already have like guardian' Ron asked

'No' Harry said not elaborating

'You're underage though, you have to have a guardian!' Hermione said surprised

'There are ways around such rules' Harry said walking into the dungeons

Hermione didn't look convinced but she followed him in not saying anything else on the matter. This time the other three followed him to the back of the classroom Hermione sitting down first

'I thought you liked the front' Harry said to Neville sliding onto a bench next to Ron

'Not with Snape' Neville replied 'now move up or I'll get stuck next to Goyle'

-

Harry didn't have to wait long before Snape swept into the dungeon

'Silence!' he snarled,

The class instantly fell silent all watching Snape with trepidation he stood at the front dressed in complete black

'Slime ball' Ron muttered under his breath from Harry's right

'Did you say something Weasley?' Snape roared from the front, Harry knew he couldn't possibly have heard Ron unless he had super hearing as well as Harry,

'5 points from Gryffindor'

The lesson continued in a similar vein with Snape knocking points off the Gryffindors whenever possible while awarding the Slytherins points at every opportunity as he revised what they had done in previous years

'A pathetic attempt by many' Snape grimaced 'that you can't remember even the simplest potions and their properties'

'Potter' he said looking at Harry for the first time and sneering 'lets try something easy as your new'

A couple of Slytherins sniggered

'What is the evandavoy potion used for?'

'It's used for freezing body organs slowly' Harry answered quickly, it was a horrible potion that killed the drinker slowly and painfully, it was useless on vampires though as there organs didn't work anyway so Harry never had had a cause to make it

Snape curled his lip slightly at the right answer before turning to another victim.

'Miss Granger put your hand down before you hurt someone, honestly I had almost forgotten your love of being the centre of attention.

------

At the end of the lesson Harry left the other three to walk to dinner by themselves, insisting he needed to go to the Library to check on something.

Instead however Harry chose to go back outside, this time he headed in the direction of the lake.

As he reached the edge Harry pulled off his school shoes and dropped them on the floor next to his bag then he threw off his cloak and the rest of his uniform apart from his trousers. Casting a concealment charm on his belongings Harry effectively hid them from sight.

The sun was setting over the forest casting a red hue across the grounds and giving Harry welcome relief from the pounding ache in his head. The lake looked more inviting with every passing second so Harry pulled his glasses off and dumped them on the grass. Raising his arms above his head Harry dived into the ice cold water.

Is eyes immediately compensated for the dim light of the lake, making everything sharper and clearer. On a good day Harry could see for up to twenty metres in the pitch black. Harry swam deeper into the water calculating how long he could keep his breath for, at the current temperature of the water Harry reckoned he could stay under the water for approximately 13 minutes give or take.

With this knowledge in mind Harry went deeper and deeper watching as shoals of fish swam in between rocks, the lake was beautiful to Harry, and he was so lost in it he nearly didn't realise he only had about 2 minutes to get to the top of the lake, kicking back with his legs Harry began swimming upwards and towards the moonlight. Harry broke the surface of the water gently the water lapping slowly around him smiling to himself he made his way back to the edge of the lake.

---------------------

As Harry neared the castle he could still hear the low rumble of voices coming from the Great Hall. The doors to the hall were closed but still the laughter leaked out into the main hall. Harry ignored all of this, instead he just walked to the Grand Staircase and began the climb to the Gryffindor common room.

It was empty when Harry reached it, everyone was eating downstairs. Taking the opportunity Harry began to reply to the letter he had gotten from Alyssa

_**Alyssa**_

_**I heard from other sources that the community is becoming restless, I haven't had the chance to find out much about the vampires in the UK yet but I'm hoping to go to London this weekend and see what the circumstances are like compared to how they were. Hopefully numbers have decreased. Can you get word to Kay that I'm investigating as I'm having trouble contacting him, I think the wards on this place act as a barrier. Thanks.**_

_**Hogwarts is tolerable, silver is very popular here so I have to be careful what I touch. Making sure no one notices I don't eat is another problem but I think I've got that sorted. **_

_**Good Luck in Tokyo and be careful, like you said the vampires are looking for me and they'll hurt you to get to me! **_

_**I'll write to you as soon as I have good solid information**_

_**Harry**_

When Harry had finished the letter he made his way up to the owlery, where the bird that had delivered his letter was waiting. The bird was about three times the size of any owl and looked out of place in the small room. Harry attached the letter to his leg and carried him to the window, the bird flew off immediately into the dark night leaving Harry alone in the tower.

By the time Harry returned to his room the other four boys were already there getting ready for bed

'Hey Harry' Ron said looking up from his trunk which had half the contents spewed over the floor 'you missed some great food'

'I can only imagine' Harry replied

----

That night Neville dreamed, he was in a dark room, in fact it was more like a cavern than a room it had that damp feel to it. Neville thought he could almost smell it, it seemed that real. People were in the cavern, they weren't normal though they were skulking in the shadows as if afraid of something, or someone. They had red eyes and pointy teeth and they were hissing at Neville.

Neville looked over at the entrance to the cave in time to see a man enter, he like the others had red eyes but he seemed very confident and sure of himself, he had very elaborate and fancy blue and purple silk robe, it swirled around him as he walked his brown beard was cut short as was his hair the fashion was old though as if the man had forgotten what century it was.

'Dark Lord' his voice said suddenly it was cold and chilled Neville slightly

'Lord of the Vampires' Neville heard himself say 'Do we have an agreement?'

'Yes' the man snarled 'We give you our services, in return you help us get the Blood Slayer and kill the vampire assassins'

'Agreed' Neville answered 'The Blood Slayer?'

'He's Ours!' the Vampire growled 'He is a mistake, a half vampire, an abomination he has killed to many of us to be allowed to live, but he will die by our hand and our hand alone!'

Neville jerked awake his breathing ragged and quick, he could hear the snoring and breathing from neighbouring beds Neville wrenched his curtains from around his bed letting the glow from the moon in. Neville realised he wasn't the only one awake, standing by the window was Harry. His long hair was trailing around his shoulders, he was only wearing some dark pyjama bottoms and his skin was like milk it was so white against the darkness, it almost seemed to glow. That wasn't what had Neville's attention though, Harry's torso was littered with scars.

Harry looked over to where Neville was sitting, he turned slightly so his right arm was concealed from the other boy. Harry was working at controlling his emotions, it helped in vampire attacks as it enabled him to completely switch off from everything apart from the fight. No distractions at all.

'Are you ok?' he asked, his voice was blank though as if he was lost in a void

'Yeh' Neville replied feeling stupid at being seen like this 'Just a bad dream'

'I know what that's like' Harry said, again his voice seemed empty to Neville, as if it was some kind of programmed response, whatever it was the Harry Neville had got to see certainly wasn't in at the moment.

'I'm just going for a walk' Neville said unsure of what to say to Harry

'Have a nice time' Harry's tone was bland and unreal

Neville grabbed a pair of trousers and a jumper and left the room as quickly as possible.

Harry just continued to stare out of the window

_**Flashback – 8 years ago**_

_Rhys took the orphan Harry to his home in Finland, it was hidden from the rest of the world to all but those Rhys wished to see it. _

_Harry stood nervously in the big hallway of the house, it was airy and bright decorated in warm earthy colours, Harry pulled at the neck of the new jumper he was wearing. The first thing Rhys had done after he had discovered Harry was to by him new clothes, cut his hair, given him a wash and a decent night's sleep in a warm bed. _

_Rhys had been beyond surprised when he discovered what Harry 'Was' but after the initial shock had worn off he realised the boys potential in the fight against the vampires, this boy was one of the best he had ever seen._

_So he had brought him to his manor, the home to not only Rhys, but other children he had found that had the potential to be great._

_A small girl ran down the staircase and into Rhys's arms 'Daddy' she cried 'you're home!'_

_She turned to Harry who backed away apprehensively _

'_I'm Alyssa' she announced smiling a toothy grin 'You must be Harry, were going to train together'_

_Harry returned the smile and relaxed slightly, Rhys saw this and smiled at his young daughter 'Why don't you show Harry his room' he said softly 'maybe you can show him your toys'_

_Alyssa grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him up the staircase 'Come on Harry' she sang 'let's go and play'_

_Harry smiled, for the first time in ages, he felt happy _


	4. The Vampire Assassins

Chapter Four

Neville reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office ten minutes later he had literally ran from the Gryffindor tower to tell Dumbledore what had happened in his dream

'Sugared Almonds' he hurried out to the stone gargoyle

The entrance opened immediately and Neville ran up the stairs taking them two at a time. He knocked quickly on the door barely waiting for the headmaster to answer before he jumped in.

'Professor!' he said quickly 'Voldemort's made an alliance with the vampires!'

-------------------

An emergency Order meeting was called in Dumbledore's office, as well as Neville, Sirius, Lupin. Snape, McGonagall and a few other teachers were present as well as a few Aurors who had managed to get away from the ministry without being noticed such as Kingsley and Tonks, also the Weasleys were there.

There was enough room for everyone to sit quite comfortably on the chairs that Dumbledore had conjured

'Let me get this right Neville' Dumbledore said 'Voldemort promised to help the Lord of the vampires, kill people called the Vampire Assassins and capture someone called the Blood Slayer in return for a Union between them both'

'Yes, Sir that's what I saw happen' Neville stood in front of everyone 'the vampire guy said that this Blood Slayer was a half vamp who was a mistake and deserved to be hurt because he had killed so many vampires'

'Who are these Vampire Assassins?' Kingsley asked, to general agreement

'I've heard of them' Lupin said surprising everyone

'Well come on then Moony don't keep us in suspense!' Sirius encouraged him

'The Vampire Assassins are exactly that' Lupin said 'Assassins!'

Lupin paused again and Sirius prodded him with his wand to push him on

'I know a werewolf called Kay' Lupin continued hesitantly 'Werewolf's and vampires hate each other and I was talking to Kay and he said that joining the assassins was the best thing he could have ever done because he got to 'Kill the dead Bastards'

'Do you know any of the specifics?' Arthur Weasley asked

'Not really' Lupin replied 'Just the general facts of the group'

'Anything would be good at this stage' Kingsley added

'Last time I talked to Kay he said that he was going to Indonesia, he'd probably be back by now. I could get him to talk to us probably' Lupin admitted

The rest of the Order were delighted, this was as close as they had gotten to Voldemort's plans for ages.

---------------------

Neville was filling in Hermione and Ron the next morning when Harry entered the Great Hall, he had chosen to come in later as he had wanted to explore the grounds fully before breakfast, as Harry got closer he heard the words 'Vampire Assassins' which stopped him short and then 'Bloody Slayer'

They couldn't know it was him though could they? Harry slowed down considerably and focused his hearing on the conversation.

'There's a meeting tonight' Neville was muttering 'Lupin got in touch with that guy he knows and he's coming as well'

'Cool' Ron muttered back 'I wish we could go'

'Dumbledore said that you can' Neville replied

'Seriously' Hermione gave an excited whisper 'I would love to see what an Order meeting is actually like'

'Yeh me to' Ron agreed 'Do they know anything about this Blood Slayer guy?'

'No' Neville answered 'He's a mystery to the Order, they can't find out much about him other than that he's a half vamp and all the other vamps hate him'

Harry breathed in relief, they didn't suspect him. Neville looked up at that moment and saw Harry

'Quiet' Harry heard him say 'You can't tell anyone anything about what I just told you'

'Were not stupid' Hermione said scathingly and spotting Harry she waved at him

Harry resigned himself to the fact that the three of them had taken it upon themselves to be his friends. It could be worthwhile though he thought to himself.

------

The rest of the day passed pretty easily with Harry managing to stay under the radar of most teachers.

That evening Harry allowed himself to be persuaded to attend the Quidditch try-outs, his broom a lightning 250 was one of the best.

Harry knew how the game was played and what the rules were but he had never played it himself, never having enough time to simply enjoy flying

'Right' the girl called Angelina, shouted to the group of hopefuls in front of her

'Simple things first, I want all of you circuit around the pitch one at a time avoiding the hazards!'

The hazards were Fred and George and their bludgers who looked positively exuberant at the opportunity to knock players off their brooms.

Angelina sent the prospective seekers out by year group starting with the second years (the first years couldn't even mount their brooms) A few managed to avoid the initial attack but each student that got past that was either very slow on their brooms or very wobbly. One girl went round the course, screaming she didn't like it.

Only two third years had come, one took one look at Fred and George and told Angelina to forget it the other managed to get in the air but on seeing a bludger coming in his direction he simply turned his broom round and headed straight back to the ground. The same continued with the fourth years, one was ok so Angelina had them sit at one side, the fifth years tried to hard to look cool on their brooms so they were useless.

When it came to the Harry's turn he flew quickly into the air, he dodged a bludger from one side and then flew higher into the air to avoid a second, Harry actually found it quite easy, and he zoomed round the course in record time. Harry found the hazards to be harmless as on one occasion he had been chased on a broomstick by vampires all intent on killing him.

Harry was the only sixth year that got through, two seventh years also got through though neither made it look as seamless as Harry. The next challenge Angelina set was catching snitches, each of the four contestants then took it in turns to have the snitch released and then they had to look for it, the fourth year got bored and did accio on it which annoyed Angelina

'If you did that in a match we would be disqualified!' She shouted 'Harry your next'

She released the snitch, Harry was being watched by the whole team and a few of the others that had failed. Using his excellent eyesight Harry spotted the snitch he caught it quickly holding back only slightly so as not to arouse suspicion. It took both of the seventh years longer to catch the snitch which they did eventually

By the end though, everyone knew that Harry was the new Gryffindor seeker

'Welcome to the team' Angelina smiled 'I think we just might do it this year!'

Ron and Neville along with Fred, George and Ginny congratulated Harry loudly, and for the first time since he had arrived Harry felt like he was fitting in, it was a distraction to all the shit he had put up with fighting Vampires.

---------------------

Before dinner the members of the Order waited for the werewolf 'Kay' to arrive, the conditions that Kay had agreed on were that they met at the school and if he didn't like how things were going he was allowed to leave at any time. He also insisted he bring a colleague. The Order had been willing to allow this as long as they got information in return.

They were in the staffroom of the school all waiting for the two people to appear from the fire place, no one spoke as they waited. It was just complete silence.

Suddenly the flames turned green and a figure stepped out of the fire, he was quite a short middle aged man, his dark hair was thinning and cut short, he was well muscled though and was obviously carrying enough weapons to start a revolution. He stood up straight and stared at the assembled group in silence.

Another shape emerged from the grate, this time it was a lad about eighteen or nineteen, he was tall and lanky with blonde scrawny hair who jerked out of grate coughing from the soot.

'FUCK!' he swore loudly and surprising everyone by breaking the silence so abruptly it was like cracking glass 'I hate shitting floo powder why not just kill me!'

The other man stepped forward 'Watch your language!' he cuffed the lad lightly on his head 'I am Kay and this' he gestured to the lad 'is Joe. You said you had information that could be helpful'

Dumbledore stepped forward as well 'Welcome to Hogwarts I am Professor Dumbledore. I was hoping we could help each other out on information'

----

Kay surveyed the group warily 'You're sure about this? There coming after us'

'As far as we know' Lupin replied 'Voldemort offered to help kill you and your group, as well as help capture the Blood Slayer'

Joe started to laugh 'They'll never catch that little turd! He might be a right wanker but he's bloody good at what he does'

Kay turned angrily to Joe 'Shut Up! We are not giving any information on Blood, he's already being hunted by the vampires, he doesn't need wizards after him as well'

'Why would wizards go after him?' Sirius asked

'That's what wizards do' replied Kay 'They hunt or exile the things they can't understand'

'We wouldn't hunt him' Mollie Weasley insisted 'Not if he was on our side'

'Be that as it may' Kay said 'He doesn't trust easily, to many bad experiences for someone so young. I'll ask him if he wants to reveal himself to you, but I doubt he will'

Dumbledore acknowledged this statement with a nod of his head 'That is the best we can hope for'

'What about your group?' Mad-Eye asked 'We gave you our information'

'Ok' Kay agreed 'The Vampire Assassins are an elite group we travel the world making sure we kill lots of vamps as we go along. There are about thirty of us involved so far. We find people who have faster reaction times than normal, can run that little bit faster etc and we train them. Some come to us at very young ages off the streets, instincts are always better if they've been used from an early age to sense for danger, we give them a better life, we give them a home'

'How come we haven't heard of you before?' Kingsley asked 'that many of you'

'We are very good at organisation' Kay smiled 'That and the fact we are dispersed over the whole world, just a couple per country sometimes, not very obvious'

'How many vamps have you killed' asked Sirius

'Me personally around 280 vamps in about 18 years, Joe's killed about 30' Kay answered 'The Blood Slayer's killed about 400 vamps and he's younger than Joe'

'Way to go wolf' Joe sneered 'I thought we decided not to tell them everything'

'Shut It!' snarled Kay, turning 'I'm in charge here I decide what information I give out'

'Why's he so good' Dumbledore enquired

'He's fast, clever, powerful and he has extra sensitive hearing, sight and smell. With him you just get the added bonus he's alive'


	5. Attack!

**Thank you so much for the reviews from:**

**Fabrielle,**

**jabarber69,**

**hemotem,**

**Jarno,**

**Waiting not so patiently, and**

**The War General**

**Your reviews are all appreciated and I hope you enjoy this chapter… **

Chapter Five

The weekend couldn't come quickly enough for Harry all that stood in-between him and it was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry trailed into the classroom after the other Gryffindors, he had pretty much avoided Sirius ever since his revelation that Harry was his Godson. Harry wanted to talk to him but could never seem to muster up enough courage.

Lupin had chosen to do the lesson on Vampires to Harry's luck, when Lupin announced this Harry felt him self groan

'Why?' he thought to himself 'why can't life be easy?'

'Right' Lupin started with 'can anyone tell me what a vampire is?'

Hermione stuck her hand up instantly

'Yes Hermione?' Lupin prompted her

'Vampires are often portrayed in myth to be the result of a person bitten by an another vampire' Hermione paused for effect 'in fact that you can't become a vampire from being bitten just the once'

'Correct Hermione, 5 points to Gryffindor' Lupin praised 'The bite of a vampire will either kill you or just cause you to loose a lot of blood, it won't turn you into a vampire unless you have a ceremony. Can anyone tell me about the ceremony to create a vampire?'

Harry sat in silence not joining in, Neville raised his hand cautiously, he was pretty sure he had the right answer, the three of them had spent a large amount of time in the library researching vamps

'Yes Neville'

'The ceremony the Vampires use lasts for a week' Neville offered 'and only those who have been deemed worthy can become vamps, also you have to be an adult for the ceremony to work otherwise you just end up killing the person'

'Correct Neville, another five points to Gryffindor' Lupin announced 'it's nice to see some people who are revising the subject. Next were looking at what vampires hate, can anyone tell me what works best against vampires. How about you Harry'

Harry tried to act like he wasn't sure 'Erm…does sunlight' thinking back to the times when his whole life depended on the sunrise, if he just stayed alive an extra few minutes then his attackers would be burnt to cinders.

'Yes, have 5 points for Gryffindor, sunlight will torch vampires effectively killing them' Lupin pulled out a bulb of garlic from his drawer 'now what is this?' he asked holding it up

The smell hit Harry immediately making him feel nauseas, garlic was not one of his favourite things, luckily instead of sending him screaming from the room like it did a normal vamp, the smell just made him feel slightly sick.

'Great' Harry thought to himself bitterly 'I wish I'd taken Ancient Runes instead'

--------------

By the time the lesson finished Harry rushed to a bathroom convinced he was just step away from throwing up. As well as garlic, Lupin had 'helpfully' shown the class how to perform the Fanatus spell, which repelled vampires, the residue from so many spells being cast in such a confined space had done nothing to make Harry feel any better.

'Are you ok Harry?' Neville had followed him into the bathroom 'maybe you should go and see Madam Pomfrey'

'I'm fine Neville' Harry replied, now free from the confines of the classroom Harry was feeling healthier 'I think I just might go and lie down for a while, you should go down for some dinner'

Neville eventually left Harry but he hadn't looked convinced

-----

Meanwhile Sirius was talking to Remus

'He always avoids me, whenever he sees me' Sirius said exasperated 'what can I do to get him to trust me'

'Maybe you should ask him to go to Hogsmeade with you his weekend' Lupin suggested 'get him to talk to you'

'I don't think it'll be that easy Moony, he seems really wary of me'

'Small steps then, maybe you could get Ron, Neville and Hermione to help you they seem to have become friends with him'

'I hope so, as I can't see him opening up any other way'

------

Harry pulled on black jeans and a dark t-shirt over the top he put on a thick black cloak, around his body Harry concealed weapons and daggers so if he was attacked he could protect himself, he also had a bow and silver tipped arrows.

Harry opened the window of his room, the sun had set leaving only the glow of the moon. Not pausing to think Harry jumped from the tower and felt himself fall through the air seconds before he hit however Harry started floating landing on the ground with a very cool thump, as apposed to the splat that would have happened if he had floated to late.

Blending into the numerous shadows Harry ran quickly to the main gates, when he reached them Harry jumped high enough to be level with the top, grabbing the tip of the gate he used it to propel himself over the other side, landing on the path Harry turned to check he hadn't been witnessed before running full speed in the direction of Hogsmeade.

He reached the small village within five minutes, striding into the middle of the street Harry pulled his hood up to conceal his face. The street was deserted not so much a rat had noticed his arrival, Harry checked there was definitely no one there before dissaperating with swoosh as an alternative to the crack all other wizards announced their arrival with.

--------

He arrived in London only seconds later appearing on a busy muggle street, across the road the Leaky Inn stood. Harry crossed over and entered the pub making sure his hood covered his face. On entry to the pub Harry made sure he stayed unnoticed in the shadows. The leaky Inn was fairly busy, the air thick with smoke (smoking ban doesn't apply in wizarding pubs)

No one so much as glanced in his direction as he made his way to the back door leading into Diagon Alley. After tapping the bricks the wall opened up and Harry stepped through.

The alley wasn't very busy just a few witches and wizards walking around. Harry passed all of the shops without interest, heading instead towards Knockturn Alley

The Alley was grubbier than Harry remembered. A drunk was slouched in a doorway, his hair was slowly vanishing as he sat there leaving him with a bald crown.

Eyes watched him carefully as he swept through the street, no one approached him though, Harry seemed like he was giving off an aura of fear to the surrounding area as if daring people to approach him just so he could hurt them.

Harry new exactly which direction he wanted to go, he swept there quickly all attempts at trying to walk humanly abandoned as he flew down the Alley his feet barely brushing the filthy ground. Ahead a grotty pub stood, its painted front was faded and cracked with age with the writing peeling off, you could still make out the name though as it glowed in the night

**The Frozen Corpse**

A group of people hung around the shabby door, Harry recognised them to be Fang Bangers, kind of like groupies for Vampires who were addicted to being bitten and hung around pubs like this just to get the chance to be nibbled. They gazed desperately at Harry as he neared them the want evident on their faces

'Want a bite' one straggly woman shouted 'I don't mind!' she pulled down the neck of her robe 'Look, fresh blood'

Harry was always amazed at how these people spotted him for what he was, the rest of the Wizarding world wasn't half as clued up as they were and they were supposed to be experts

Harry ignored the woman and pushed his way through the group to the door of the pub, raising a hand he knocked on the thick steel door. A large man's head appeared in the open slot in the middle of the door, the man displayed a huge knife though opening sneering all the while, his green skin shone in the night

'Proof of Condition' he bit off menacingly

Harry wasn't even slightly concerned however, this man was ogre not vampire, but to gain entry he extended his fangs and pulled his hood down flashing his eyes

'Proof enough?'

Harry could hear the heavy bolts being drawn back on the opposite side of the door by the bouncer, the door shuddered open and Harry quickly moved into the dark of the club. Behind him one of the Fang Bangers tried to jump through the door only to be smashed in his face by the bouncer as an incentive not to try again

'I said' growled the ogre 'NO HUMANS!' and he slammed the door closed

Harry took his surroundings in slowly contrary to outside impressions 'The Frozen Corpse' was stylish and up market (if you ignored the clientele)

It was decorated in dark colours such as reds and purples, leather sofas and glass tables lined three walls of the club. In the centre a dance floor was sectioned off the floor pulsed with light and music and various 'people' gyrated slowly to the tune, while the crowd watched enraptured.

On the fourth wall a black marble bar was positioned with stools in front of it, many were already taken by hulking figures sipping morosely on drinks in the dim light. A group of dwarfs stood to one end of the door arguing quietly, while one juggled a sack of money. Harry headed for the bar and grabbed an empty stool. The waitress headed his way she was a vampire, Harry sensed she was one of the newly turned, she still had a slight liveliness to her step which abandoned older vampires.

'Pint of any Bear blood you've got' Harry requested putting on a fake accent

'Heated or Iced' she asked her voice like the rest of her appeared gentle, but Harry new appearances were deceptive

'I'll take heated' Harry considered

A few minutes later the glass clanked down on the marble 'That'll be three galleons' the waitress stated

Harry counted out the money and handed it to her 'I'm new to these parts, I was wondering is there someone I can talk to about certain aspects of life in Britain?'

The girl looked thoughtful for a few seconds 'you're best talking to Reva, she'll be best at answering your questions, she's not in yet though'

'Any idea when she will be?'

'She'll probably be in soon enough, I'll point her out when she is'

'I appreciate it' Harry answered taking a gulp of his blood, the taste wasn't quite fresh, it was more than a few weeks old grimacing slightly Harry carried on drinking it though, if only to stem his hunger.

The club had about fifteen vampires at various points in the club, Harry counted quickly the higher the number of vamps, the more at risk he was at revealing that his heart still beat. Harry tracked the other creatures as well occasionally listening in to conversations to see if he could gain anything useful. One conversation sparked his interest and he listened in closely

'We've found the location of one of the Assassins' a thin female was muttering 'A girl I think, she's in Tokyo somewhere were going to get her tomorrow night we've set a trap'

Harry felt his breathing constrict, they had found Alyssa! He had to get to her tonight to warn her

The barmaid caught his attention by lifting her arm when he looked over to her she pointed at a tall dark female. Harry nodded his head in thanks and made his way towards her

'Reva?' he asked speaking to the woman, she looked at Harry with a look of annoyance, Harry estimated her to be about roughly 100 to 150 years old

'Yes' she snapped 'I am busy so ask your questions and leave' her accent was faintly French

'I am new to the area' lied Harry 'I was hoping you could point me out to the vampire inhabited area's'

She still looked distrustful so Harry added some flattery 'I was assured you knew everything that needed to be known on vampires in Britain

This did the trick and she gestured to the seat next to her, Harry sat on the leather sofa and gazed at her

'Our kind mostly reside in the inner city's, if you want exact places, the biggest group of us live in Nivell, its just outside Birmingham'

'Thank you' Harry said before testing another question 'I am new to this country, I come from Greenland and there are about 2500 vampires living there. Is there many more here?'

A look of arrogance passed on her features 'There is about three times that number here' she said snootily 'We are an extremely wealthy community'

Harry smiled to himself, he had completed his objective 'I hope to meet the a lot of the community very soon' he looked at her, but she hadn't understood the threat he had made, she just nodded her head once and Harry took this as his signal to leave

'Thank you for your time Reva' he said politely, all the time thinking of the stake in his belt and envisioning killing her in a harsh and gory way.

Harry stood and made his way to the exit of the club, he noticed he was being watched and as he passed a small huddle of vampires sniffed at him. Harry subtly increased his speed as he walked towards the door, he didn't want to get caught up in a fight in an enclosed space especially with such bad odds.

He passed the ogre quickly and sped through the door into the dark of the outside, the Fang Bangers were still hanging miserably in the cold, it had also started to drizzle with rain and they were getting wet. Harry wrapped his cloak more securely around his body and gripped his dagger under the thick material as he heard footsteps approach him from behind. Harry kept walking though in case he alerted his tail that he was aware of their presence.

A small side alley was ahead of him Harry turned down it quickly and stopped a short way up and waited to see if he was pursued, he heard the footsteps stop at the entrance of the alley. Harry listened closely to see if he could hear breathing, not even a faint inhalation could be heard and Harry realised instantly his shadows were the vampire's that had frequented the club, reaching to his belt Harry replaced the knife and instead pulled out a stake and a small crystal.

--------------

Meanwhile the Order converged in their usual headquarters- the basement of Number 12 Grimauld Place. They were again talking with Kay and Joe and trying to ascertain more details on the Vampire Assassins and more importantly, the Blood Slayer

'So let me get this straight' Sirius said tiredly 'you haven't had contact with the Blood Slayer since our last encounter'

'That would be correct' confirmed Kay calmly 'last letter I got from a shared acquaintance, informed me he's having trouble reaching us so he contacted her instead and she sent on the message'

As he finished talking a loud beeping emanated from his pocket, looking sheepish he pulled out a glowing crystal 'sorry' he apologised 'I forgot to turn it off'

He tapped the crystal once with his wand and a voice burst through speaking fast

'Kay, are you there?' the voice asked

'Yeh, I'm here kid I can't talk openly now though'

'It doesn't matter' the voice replied impatiently 'I have an emergency situation I need you to check out'

Kay's face immediately hardened as he listened, the members of the Order listened intently to the conversation to see if they would pick anything new up, to others such as Neville, Ron and Hermione and various other teachers frowned at the voice, it seemed vaguely familiar as if they had heard it somewhere before.

'You need to get to our operator in Tokyo' the voice said urgently 'I have definite reason to believe her situation has been compromised'

'Are you sure?' Kay replied with equal urgency 'the mission she went on is extremely delicate'

'I know that!' the voice growled 'I heard the vampires discuss the setting of a trap for her, said group of vampires are about to attack me so I've gotta go!'

'Understood' Kay signalled 'A loud crash came through the glowing Crystal and a shout of 'Fucking Bastard! Why don't you Fuck yourself up your own arse! I'm going to kill you, that really hurt! I've gotta run Kay go and make sure she's ok!' the voice cut out and the crystal stopped glowing

'Are you going to help him?' Tonks asked worriedly 'he sounds as if he's in trouble'

Joe shook his head 'he knows how to look after himself'

Kay nodded in agreement and turned to Dumbledore 'I'm sorry but we have to cut this short, we're off to Tokyo'

'I understand perfectly' Dumbledore replied 'I hope it goes well'

'You're not the only one' Joe said rudely 'if he turns out to be wrong, the mission in Japan is over'

'Don't you think I'm aware of that!' Kay said angrily 'but her life is more important' with that he left the room

Joe shrugged at the group of witches and wizards 'as his Lordship commands' he said sarcastically bowing to the room 'I must complete'

'Joe! Get your arse in gear!' came Kay's voice loudly 'I want to be back in the UK in less than six hours'

-

When the two men had vacated the house the Order resumed their meeting

'Well we didn't learn anything good from that' frowned Molly Weasley 'we already knew they operated all over the world'

'We got to hear the sound of his voice' Dumbledore said softly 'it sounded young'

'I would have to agree professor' McGonagall said thoughtfully 'terrible language though'

'It sounded familiar' Neville said working up the courage to speak, the older members turned and looked at him sceptically,

Sirius spoke suddenly 'I have to agree with Neville, there was something familiar about it'

'Probably just the age' dismissed Mad-Eye with a wave of his gnarled hand 'you do live at Hogwarts'

Sirius and Neville both nodded, but neither could shake the suspicion that they knew the voice

--------

Harry blocked a tirade of blows raining down on him from an incensed vampire, there were two other vampires watching with interest as the fight developed. The shout that the Order had heard had been a sharp dagger slamming into his bicep, it angered Harry that he had been caught off guard by such an unintelligent trio of vamps. Even though Harry had known they were there, his desperation to convey the message to Kay had left him out in the open.

Harry blocked a blow from the young vampire and stabbed back at it with its very own dagger, the vampire lurched backwards to avoid the knife. It was unprepared for perhaps a fraction of a second, Harry took this small opportunity and desperate to make up for his earlier mistakes he attacked swiftly. He lunged forward with his stake aiming for the vampire's heart.

The vampire sensed what was about to happen so it thrust its grubby arms towards its chest. This was the move Harry had been aiming for, a moment later he had driven upwards with the stake, changing its course at the last instant.

The stake slammed hard into the vampires oesophagus, Harry pushed it with such force that the tip of the wood slammed through into its spine and out of the other side of its neck

The vampire fell to the floor with a wet thud, on contact with the ground it burst into a scatter of dust. Harry whipped round and faced the other two vampires who had lifted their guards in preparation to fight Harry. Harry grinned at them, a flash of sparkling white fangs under the hood of his cloak. They were both male with lank grubby hair and old worn clothes. One of them growled menacingly at Harry, who returned the glare with one of equal ferocity

'You are the one we hunt' It bit off

'Are you sure?' asked Harry calmly

'Yes' the second answered 'We were in Canada when you were cornered on that mountain, your scent is familiar, I don't understand why Reva didn't spot you for what you really are'

'She's gotten too complacent' hissed the first 'she is a risk'

'Familiar' Harry echoed 'I don't remember your scent from that nightmare, though most of the people involved are now dead'

'Slain by your own hand' snarled the first 'we will kill you for your crimes against our kind and you will die by my own hand'

'I thought you were under obligation to contact the Lord if anyone found me?' Harry asked pleasantly, reaching for a Holy water grenade subtly all the while

'Our own vengeance takes precedence' the second muttered, skulking closer to Harry as he spoke

'Oh, I'm sure he'll understand' mocked Harry

Before the vampire's could reply Harry dived forward with his bloodied stake swinging it near the first vampire, the narrowness of the alley didn't give much manoeuvring space and the vampires back slammed against the stone wall.

While it was temporarily distracted Harry launched the Holy Water at the second vampire, who had been holding back slightly. The glass vial smashed against his face, the liquid ran down his smooth face, as it crossed over skin it etched its way in to the skin like acid

The vampire screamed in pain, he reached to his face in an attempt to wipe the water off. All he succeeded in doing was burning his hands, some of the water had leaked onto his right eye, it burned it out of the socket and left the vampire sobbing on the floor cradling his hands in his lap in pain

The first vampire screeched, an eerie inhuman sound that lifted the hairs on the back of Harry's neck. In anger the vampire dashed forward its hands aiming for Harry's heart. Harry quickly countered the attack with some fast blocks and kicks, his arm was searing with pain as blows rained down on the injured spot.

The vampire levelled off the assault as he realised it was getting him no where, instead he curled his lip and began circling (an age old vampire fighting method, where the combatants stayed in a small space circling each other and fighting with weapons. It was a test of nerves and of will)

Harry duplicated the vampire's actions, drawing a knife from a sheath in his belt, the vampire copied Harry drawing a weapon of its own. They continued circling for a few minutes, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

The vampire cracked first, it swung at Harry with his knife, its movements were untrained though and Harry had no trouble defending himself as they orbited in the small space. When the vampire continued to get no where Harry launched his own attack.

He threw the dagger with all of his might at the vampire, the force hit the vampire in the shoulder and carried on going until the Vampire was impaled on the wall with the dagger. He pulled at the blade desperately as Harry neared only for his hands to burn when they came in contact with the silver of the handle, he glared fearfully at Harry who raised his own gloved hands in response and smiled

'I come prepared' Harry teased, as if he was playing a game rather than a dangerous fight

The vampire bared his teeth and hissed at Harry 'I will kill you'

Harry just looked at him 'I seriously doubt that, many have tried' Harry drew a silver sword from a sheath in his back, it had an ornately carved black handle 'this belonged to a good man' he informed the vampire conversationally

The vampire continued hissing

'He would have liked me to kill you with' before the vampire could form any reply Harry pounced forward and stabbed him through the heart, he pulled the blade out with the heart attached to the tip. The vampires eyes grew wide with realisation before a second later he turned to dust

Harry turned from the alley and walked towards the entrance, as he passed the weeping second vampire he barely paused as he swung the weapon and lopped of its head, the body turned to dust even before the head stopped rolling.

As Harry swung out of the alley he dissaperated with a swoosh


	6. The Forest

**Thank you so much to hemotem and Waiting not so patiently for the reviews ******

Chapter Six

_**Neville was lying awake in the dark of the dormitory, only four beds were filled. The fifth bed lay empty, the hangings drawn back displaying the made-up bed and the obvious lack of its inhabitant**_

_**At first they hadn't realised Harry was missing, when they had gotten back that night they had been so caught up in the excitement of the meeting they hadn't noticed the absence of Harry, they had spent until about eleven in the empty common room discussing what had happened.**_

**Earlier that night**

'I wonder what its like' Hermione said thoughtfully as she curled up on a chair by the fire

'What, what's like?' Ron asked confused, he was slumped on a settee next to Neville

'What it must be like fighting for your life nearly everyday' Hermione answered 'I don't think I could do it!'

'You don't know what you are capable of' Neville replied quietly 'until you get the chance to discover it for yourself'

'Besides' Ron cut in 'If he grew up fighting, he wouldn't know it any other way'

'A life of violence' Neville muttered

'He must be seriously screwed up' Ron joked

'He used it for something productive though' Hermione contemplated 'He was hurt, so he made sure he protected others from the same fate'

Before either lad could answer, the portrait swung open and Professor McGonagall climbed through, she glanced around the empty common room as if searching for someone. Her eyes fell instead on the three sixth years

'Would any of you know where Mr Potter is?' she requested

Hermione and Ron shook their heads but Neville spoke up 'I just went up to the dormitory and he's not there'

'Are you quite sure Mr Longbottom?' Professor McGonagall enquired

'Definitely' Neville answered 'Only Seamus and Dean were there, I haven't seen Harry since fifth period come to think of it'

She opened her mouth to speak again, but before she speak the portrait opened once more and Sirius and Lupin clambered through

'Have you seen Harry?' Sirius asked

'That was a question I was just asking' informed Professor McGonagall 'Neville has just notified me that they haven't seen him since fifth period'

'Fifth period' repeated Lupin 'that was my lesson!'

'Yeh' Ron nodded 'he looked a bit ill, come to mention it'

'He went to the toilets looking like he was going to be sick' Neville said agreeing with Ron 'I followed him but he said he was fine'

Sirius pulled out a piece of parchment from his robes and tapped it with his wand worriedly muttering 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'

He searched the parchment for a few moments with Lupin looking over his shoulder

'He's not here' Lupin said aghast

'What do you mean?' McGonagall asked concerned 'how could he have left Hogwarts?'

'We blocked off all the secret passages' Sirius said 'and there's no passage we don't know of'

'We have to inform the Headmaster immediately' McGonagall said anxiously 'if something has happened to him…'

----------------

Search teams were organised immediately by Professor Dumbledore, pairs of teachers roamed the schools in pairs, half inside, half outside

Inside Dumbledore's office, Snape, Lupin, Sirius and a few other teachers prepared to start their own search

'I don't understand why we have to go looking for him' Snape exclaimed bitterly 'if he was stupid enough to get lost in the first place'

'That's my Godson you're talking about!' Sirius angrily ground out

'Well he shows the same lack of consideration that his Father ever did' Snape replied flippantly

Sirius started forward irately 'don't you dare speak of James! You have no right!'

'Easy' Lupin softly said placing a calming hand on Sirius's shoulder 'he's not worth it'

'I was merely stating facts' sneered Snape 'you show such concern now, but where was your concern fifteen years ago'

'You know fine well there was nothing I could do to help!' Sirius retorted furiously

'Gentlemen please' Dumbledore spoke finally 'we need to focus on the task in hand, which is our missing student'

'He could be in the Forbidden Forest' Lupin said abruptly 'the map doesn't cover the majority of the forest'

'If he's in the forest, then he could get hurt' Hagrid added 'there's some nasty creatures out there'

'You four start in the forest' instructed Dumbledore 'I'll go and see how the rest of the groups are getting on'

-----------------

When Harry reached the gates of Hogwarts he could make out the beams of lights shinning across the lawns. When he listened closely he heard the shouts, listening ever closer he could make out the calls of

'Harry Potter!' and 'Can you hear us!'

Another voice called

'Hagrid thinks he might be in the forest'

'Shit' Harry muttered to himself 'they know I'm gone'

He edged up to the gate making sure he was hidden in the darkness, 'The forest' Harry knew he had to get in there so this 'Hagrid' could find him there, it would seem like he had been there all along. As a beam of light flickered past the gate, Harry took the opportunity and hurdled over the large gate landing softly on the path beside it.

He dodged quickly into a bush neat to the gates to avoid a beam of another wand. As the light flickered away Harry took a deep breath paused for a few seconds before hurling himself towards the forest.

He moved with speed and agility, so he was more a blur than a defined shape.

Harry dived into the hidden depths of the forest, running swiftly he delved further and further into the confines of the gloom, adjusting his eyes he travelled until he was concealed in the shadows and away from the footfalls of his 'rescuers'. Making note of the landmarks close by, Harry removed his weapons and placed them in a small hollow he covered them in leaves and stepping back he made sure they were concealed.

Harry paused and took an account of his surroundings, the trees rose in high arcs around him and the stamping of feet echoed in the distance. Harry took a breath and walked slowly in the direction of the sound.

Harry avoided low branches and thick brambles as he hiked in the bearing of the noise, he came out in a clearing where creatures prowled in the open space, Harry immediately recognised the animal as a Threstral. Its eyes followed Harry as he made his way slowly to its side.

When he drew level with it he raised his hand slowly, the creature sensed the shared familiarity with the dead and it lowered its head in response. Harry stroked its head savouring the joy of touch, he was accustomed to the animals, they grazed in the lands around the house in Finland.

A sound of rustling had Harry spinning to a patch of trees, out of the leaves emerged more Threstrals, at least six they joined the other Threstral and stood so they were surrounding Harry in the glade. Harry dropped to the floor and crossed his legs, a couple of the animals dropped with him so they lay next to him. Closing his eyes Harry took a deep breath, inhaling the musky scents of the forest and waited for the inevitable sound of approaching footsteps

**Flashback -1o years ago**

_Harry sat in a dark corner of the children's home trying to be invisible from the other children who watched him warily from a distance. Harry hunkered down further as a well meaning social worker kneeled down in front of him_

'_Hello Harry' she smiled 'I'm Jennie, I'm going to be making sure you're okay'_

_Harry didn't say anything he just watched her fearfully, the smiling woman drew back and walked over to Ms Fell, the woman in charge of the Children's home. Harry listened into their conversation_

'_He's an odd one' Ms Fell was saying 'ever since he came here he does strange things''_

'_What kinds of things?' asked Jennie confused_

'_Like last month' Ms Fell said quietly 'one of the kittens was killed'_

'_What's strange about that?' _

'_He killed it' Ms Fell gestured with her head 'sucked the blood out of it one afternoon, said he was hungry, he's not normal'_

'_Why would he be hungry? You provide food' Jennie replied _

'_He ate when he came here about a year ago' Ms Fell muttered 'he started eating less and less and being sick more and more until now he just eats soup'_

'_Has it affected his health?' Jennie asked concerned_

'_He's different to the other children' Ms Fell replied 'I think its got something to do with him seeing his foster parents being killed, he was hurt in the attack and for a while they thought he was going to die'_

'_Maybe it would have been better if he had' Jennie said, creeped out by the six year old_

_Harry heard this comment and felt tears sting his eyes, he couldn't help being different!_

_--_

_Later that night when everyone was asleep Harry crept out of the home which was situated in the centre of London, not looking back once he fled into the alley's of the city, a small boy all alone._

_His disappearance was reported and a few policeman had a look around, a week later Harry was declared permanently missing, his file was closed and the smiling social worker forgot all about the little boy_

_Meanwhile Harry learnt how to survive the hard way _

-------------

The four teachers moved slowly through the forest, wands raised against the gloom. Sirius held his own wand in front of him on the flat of his palm,

'Point me to Harry' he muttered

The wand spun to face into the dimness

'This way' indicated Sirius

'Oh really' Snape sneered sarcastically 'and here I was thinking we were just ignoring the wand'

'Now then' intervened Hagrid quickly, before Sirius could reply 'were here to do a job, let's just focus on that!'

Lupin took the lead walking quickly in the direction Sirius's wand had indicated, Sirius followed second with glares directed at Snape who was behind, at the rear Hagrid thumped along with Fang trailing around his ankles

They climbed and clambered over fallen trees and thick roots their cloaks occasionally getting caught on the thicket

'Stop walking so close' hissed Sirius

'Stop walking so slowly' retorted Snape 'or would you just prefer a head start?'

'If I had a head start, you'd never catch up' Sirius replied smoothly 'it'll be like old times'

'You were never ahead of me!' Snape snarled back 'if you ever were, it was a fluke and nothing more'

'Some fluke' Sirius said slickly 'that meant I finished ahead of you in the school league tables'

'I was in the bloody hospital wing, when the exams were taken!' Snape glared 'In case you forgot, that was the only reason that you got better results than me'

'Sure it was' Sirius turned to look at Snape 'I still bet I could have beaten you'

Snape gripped his wand hard 'want to try again? Mind you I'm surprised you still know how to use a wand after all that time in Azkaban, I'm surprised it didn't rot your brain'

'Stop it now both of you' Lupin turned to survey the two wizards, both pointing wands 'our priority is Harry, not your argument'

'Like father like son' muttered Snape as Sirius turned back round

'What did you say!' seethed Sirius whipping around to face Snape 'James was…'

'Listen!' cut off Hagrid 'I think I heard sumthin' up ahead'

The four wizards headed quickly forwards to investigate the noise, all disputes temporarily forgotten. Lupin in the lead listened to see if he could hear what Hagrid had indicated, his wolf traits gave him more sensitive hearing compared to normal humans, he could distantly make out the rustling of leaves

'There's definitely something up in front' he whispered 'keep quiet!'

While the three wizards managed to stay fairly hushed, Hagrid was just too heavy footed and he stomped through the Forest like a walrus

'Sorry' he said apologetically 'I just wasn't built for sneaking 'round'

Lupin managed a weak smile, Sirius nodded in understanding, Snape however just ignored Hagrid and kept walking

'lets get this over with so I can get back to the castle' he frowned in annoyance 'unless you have some hidden agenda that attracts you to running around a forest at night?' he looked at Lupin when he said this

Lupin blew out a deep breath and forced a smile 'all of us want to get back tonight, preferably with Harry as well!'

Snape snorted but kept quiet

The four men reached the edge of a clearing, they hunched down and surveyed what was happening in the glade. At first all they could make out were the threstrals roaming. As one moved to the side it showed a path to the centre of the group, a dark figure with pale skin sat on the floor, a threstral nearby nudged his shoulder gently with his head.

'Harry' Sirius muttered edging forward

Lupin grabbed the back of his robe and pulled him back urgently 'Sirius those are Threstrals!'

'You don't want to go messing with them!' Hagrid agreed 'they can be nasty if you get in their way'

'I thought you tamed them?' Sirius demanded

'Well yeh' Hagrid answered 'but I don't wanna get on the wrong side of them if I can help it'

'Well what do you suggest then?' demanded Snape irritably 'we just wait for them to get bored and go away!'

'Wait a minute' Hagrid said thoughtfully 'I got an idea'

'Pray tell' Snape snarled 'or is the suspense part of the idea?'

'Oh shut up Snivellus!' jeered Sirius

Before Snape could retort or Hagrid could voice his idea Harry turned and looked over at the four, he simply gazed for a moment before standing up.

Harry stroked the head of the nearest threstral before strolling over to the edge of the clearing.

'How come you're all in the forest' He asked innocently

'HOW COME!' Snape blew out 'did you have any idea what you would cause by gallivanting through the forest at night! First it's against school rules, second its just irresponsible and a waste if my time to go looking for you!'

'Harry have you any idea how much worry you caused?' Lupin asked

'All the teachers are out looking for you' Sirius added 'we didn't know where you were!'

'I only came for a walk' Harry lied making sure no blood was dripping from his wound onto the floor 'I do it all the time at home, I didn't think it would create such a fuss'

'Well you obviously thought incorrectly' Snape snapped 'now unless you wish to remain out here, I would prefer to return to the castle'

Without waiting for a reply Snape whirled round and headed out of the forest, Hagrid followed him soon after with a nod to the two marauders

Lupin pointed his wand into the air and sent out a jet of red sparks into the dark night sky

'Just informing the other searchers that we have found you' Lupin informed Harry

Sirius looked at Harry 'Are you ok?'

Lupin sniffed the air a coppery sent filled his nostrils, he looked at Harry in concern 'Are you hurt?'

Harry shook his head at the werewolf 'it's just a small cut, nothing serious'

Lupin looked at him in obvious disbelief, Sirius stepped up concern etched in his expression

'You sacred me' he admitted truthfully

'Sorry' Harry apologised, he was feeling bad that he had caused undue suffering but he was also feeling foolish that his mission out had finished so badly.

When the three of them reached the edge of the forest they passed the other groups of people and headed straight for the castle. Dumbledore met them at the entrance of the school

'Well Harry' he twinkled 'you have left us in quite a state of disarray'

'Sorry' Harry said downcast 'I had no idea one walk would cause this much trouble'

'I think it would be best if we discussed this tomorrow' Dumbledore said reproachfully 'the morning will make it that much clearer'

'I'm in trouble then?' Harry asked unsurprised

'Yes Harry, I would say you were' Dumbledore replied 'Come to my office before Breakfast tomorrow please. For now it would be best for you to go to your common room'

Harry took the advice and headed straight to the Gryffindor Common Room, looking back he saw Dumbledore, Sirius and Lupin all watching him

'Definitely under the radar' Harry muttered to himself


	7. Repercussions

**Thank you again to all those who have reviewed my work, I really enjoy writing the this story so hopefully updates will be quite quick- hopefully. I'd like to thank:**

**SeverusSnapeGirl5690,**

**angelkitty77,**

**hemotem,**

**and**

**queen of death and vampires**

**I really appreciate all of the reviews made, please enjoy the next chapter ******

Chapter Seven

Harry stumbled into the Common Room, the wound in his bicep had caused his entire right arm to go numb. The room was deserted, Harry kept walking until he reached the boys stairs. When he entered the dormitory he went straight to the bathroom ignoring any movement from the other lads.

Harry dropped his cloak on the floor and ripped the sleeve back on his t-shirt to reveal the wound. A simple stab originally, however the silver of the blade had immediately reacted with Harry's blood. Now the slash oozed black blood that stung as it ran down Harry's arm. The only thing Harry felt slightly relieved about was the fact the lesion had completely missed the black markings inscribed there

Harry pushed the tap on the sink and cold water gushed out into the large basin, he dipped his arm into the icy liquid, a gasp tore from his throat on contact with the water. Harry washed the injury gently ensuring it no longer stung, it was still bleeding though. Harry raised his arm and summoned a medical box from his trunk, it flew into his hand. Harry placed it on the floor and pawed through it looking for a bandage

--

Harry hadn't noticed that Neville was awake and Neville had stayed silent as Harry had hurried through the room, through the bathroom door he had heard the tearing of fabric. Neville stayed in his bed not sure what to do, however when the medical kit had zoomed past, Neville decided it was definitely time to go and investigate.

He walked slowly to the closed door and knocked on it lightly

'Harry' he called hesitantly 'Are you ok?'

'Yeh!' came an abrupt reply through the wood

Neville frowned in disbelief 'did I just imagine the medical kit then! If you're hurt you should go to Madam Pomfrey'

Harry gritted his teeth in annoyance as Neville stayed outside the door

'Harry!' Neville called again

'I'm FINE!' yelled Harry in frustration

Harry waited to hear footsteps retreating but Neville didn't move, Harry could hear his breathing as he waited.

In annoyance Harry yanked a bandage from the box and wrapped it hastily around his bloody arm wincing as he bound it. Neville knocked on the door again, more impatiently this time

'Harry are you hurt?'

Harry gritted his teeth and cracked the door open slightly so he could just see Neville

'Please go away!' he implored exasperated

'I only want to help!' Neville replied tensely, all he could see of Harry was his pale face through the crack of the door

'I'm fine' Harry repeated his voice softer this time though 'I appreciate your concern, but it is unnecessary, I have a small cut that's all. You should go back to bed'

Neville looked unconvinced, he knew Harry hiding something but he didn't look like he was in a sharing mood

'If you're sure?' Neville asked unconvinced

'Definitely' Harry insisted slightly impatiently

Neville nodded and turned away towards his bed, he looked back sceptically at Harry but didn't say anything Harry waited until Neville had returned to his bed before closing the bathroom door.

Harry leaned against the door and blew out a breath

'I have to be more careful' he whispered quietly

-----------------

Harry didn't exit the bathroom until about twenty minutes later, when he went back into the dormitory Neville was still awake, the room was dark but Harry could see his eyes watching him. Neville didn't say anything though, and neither did Harry instead he just got into his bed and drew the curtains blocking Neville from sight.

In his own bed Neville was in turmoil, he didn't know what to do, it was obvious that Harry had been hurt but for some reason he seemed unwilling to get checked. It was evident that Neville would get no answers tonight so he turned open and tried to sleep

Dream

When he opened his eyes he was standing on the edge of a high cliff, scrubland covered the ground and the half moon shone in the night sky, Neville breathed in the scent of seawater revelling in the freshness.

A noise to his left alerted him immediately and he drew his wand in defence

'Relax, it is only I' a voice called from a distance

Neville did not lower his wand but he relaxed his hand slightly, a figure came into view, Neville recognised it straight away to be the Lord of the Vampires

'It is you I should guard myself most around' replied Neville

'Maybe' replied the Lord 'but not tonight, tonight we have business to attend'

'I heard a few of your minions were witnessed being killed by your elusive Blood Slayer' Neville taunted

'They were foolish' this statement brought the only break in composure from the vampire 'If they had lived through the attack, make no mistake they would be dead now'

'I'm sure they would be' denigrated Neville

The Lord of the Vampires face hardened as he gazed at Neville with unnerving red eyes, Neville could feel nothing towards this obvious lack of hostility instead he felt his mouth twist into a cold smile

'You know Lord Riyak you should seriously consider organising your followers in more productive manner, I find it useful'

'Thank you Lord Voldemort, next time I need advice I'll be sure to ask you' the vampire replied acerbically 'in the meantime we still need to locate the slayer before he joins with Neville Longbottom, shouldn't that be your priority?'

Neville inclined his head in agreement 'If they join forces it will mean trouble for us all'

'I need to alert Magdalena' the vampire said decisively 'she wants to be involved in the eventual destruction of our nemesis'

'Are you any closer to finding his identity?' Neville asked coolly

'No' Lord Riyak replied 'however we are soon to be entertaining a young Assassin and we can be persuasive in interrogation'

------------------------------

Neville woke with a start, the hunger filled expression of the vampire still displayed in his mind

He pulled the curtains back gently and looked around the dark room, snoring came from Ron's bed and heavy breathing came from Dean's. Another sound drew Neville's attention, he glimpsed over to Harry's bed, the curtains were drawn and a slight moaning was coming from inside the drapes.

'So this was what Harry had meant when he said he understood about bad dreams' Neville thought

He glanced at the clock on the wall, it showed it to be after 4:30am, knowing he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep Neville grabbed a jumper and headed out of the room. As he reached the door he stood on a slightly creaky floorboard, the sound immediately brought silence from Harry's bed and Neville realised immediately that he had woken the other boy

Harry's head poked out of the hangings guardedly as he surveyed the room to find the source of the noise, his gaze rested on Neville who squirmed under his stare

'Sorry' apologised Neville 'I didn't mean to wake you'

'It doesn't matter' Harry relieved the noise had only been Neville 'I've been asleep for long enough anyway'

Neville gauged the time in his head, if Harry had gone to sleep as soon as he had got into bed then he had only had three hours sleep. He knew though that his opinion would not be appreciated so he just nodded at Harry's words

'I have to go and do something' Neville said hastily pulling the door open 'sorry again for waking you'

When Neville had retreated from the room Harry looked down at his arm, it was stinging slightly but other than that he thought it was okay, well okay considering. Harry knew sleep was beyond him and the ghost of his nightmare still clung to him the stench of bloody corpses vivid to him as if he was seeing them all over again.

Harry suppressed a shudder and opened his trunk softly pulling out a pair of trackie shorts and an elbow length t-shirt that covered his arm, he put them on a quietly left the room

----------

Harry met no-one on his journey through the castle, not even the moody caretaker was skulking nearby. He stepped through the entrance doors and breathed in the fresh air, it cleared and brushed the cobwebs from behind his eyes. Setting off across the grass he headed to the lake stretching as he walked, when he reached the water he set off at a slow jog (to everyone else a quick run)

While he ran Harry felt free from the confines of the castle and lost in his exercise he remained oblivious to all else, merely focussing instead on the rate of his breathing

-

Sirius had been sitting in his office, also unable to sleep as the night wore on, worry for Harry had wired him up as tightly as a spring and he tapped is fingers restlessly on the desk as he examined the marauders map watching the dots that frequented Hogwarts a dot labelled 'Neville Longbottom' hurried down one corridor heading towards another dot labelled 'Albus Dumbledore'

After Neville had left the tower another dot left at a slower pace this one was tagged as 'Harry Potter' interest sparked in Sirius and he got to his feet with the intention of talking to Harry

Sirius followed Harry on the map as he walked towards the grounds of the school. His first glimpse of Harry was a lone figure, sprinting around the perimeter of the lake in the moonlight. Sirius watched him sadly wishing that James could have been there with him, so they could both watch Harry

Though if James was here then Sirius would probably know everything about Harry, they would never have lost him

Harry was half way around the lake and it would take another thirty minutes at least before Harry would make it back to were Sirius stood. Sinking down onto the grass Sirius sat on the hard earth and watched his Godson in the distance

----

Harry jogged steadily his breathing even and controlled, he focused entirely on the ground beneath his feet and each connecting step, nothing less, nothing more.

He had nearly finished the expanse of the lake and was making his way slowly back to his starting point, rustling got his attention, a slight noise that he nearly missed

Swinging his eyes around he searched the grounds for the cause of the sound, his eyesight allowed him to make out the stature of a man, he increased his speed slightly. Harry wasn't concerned about being attacked, but it was better safe than sorry

It was only as he neared the person he realised it was Sirius, the man's eyes watched him carefully, even from this distance he felt apprehensive at what Sirius might say, especially after what had happened the night before, summoning up his determination he ran forwards closing the gap between the two of them.

As Harry drew level Sirius got to his feet opening his mouth as Harry halted

'Hi Harry, you okay?' he asked sincerely, he looked less worried than he had earlier, but there was still the tell tale stress signs, such as the creasing on his forehead as he frowned

'Yeh I'm fine' Harry replied 'thanks for coming to look for me earlier, I never did thank you'

This time Sirius smiled at Harry but it was a sad smile 'Coming to look for you in a forest is nothing compared to when I didn't look for you'

'I didn't realise they let prisoners out to go looking for missing Godchildren' smiled Harry

'I was wondering' Sirius said changing the subject 'if you're not going with your friends would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me on Sunday?'

Harry thought it over in his head, a day in Hogsmeade getting to know his Godfather could not be viewed as bad

'Ok the' Harry nodded 'Sunday in Hogsmeade'

At this Sirius's face broke out into the first true smile and he looked much younger 'that's great' he grinned 'I'm looking forward to it already'

Harry laughed at Sirius's excitement 'if that's all then?' Harry asked 'I have to get changed before breakfast'

Sirius nodded in understanding 'see you in breakfast then'

Harry smiled and turned back to the castle as he neared the doors he looked back at Sirius in the fading night, Sirius was faced towards the lake his back to Harry

---------

Harry reached the bathroom before the other three boys had gotten up, Neville was still absent from his bed.

In the bathroom Harry stripped out of his sweaty running clothes and pulled the bandage off from around his arm, and stared at it in shock

For the first time he could ever remember his arm was infected, not by the silver but an infection nevertheless. His arm was swollen and the gash in his bicep oozed yellow pus, it also smelt funny. The stench made him nearly gag, he had forgotten to tune a few of his senses down and the effect was not nice. It was slightly worse than a normal infection and Harry feared that the blade had been laced with something.

Harry had not gotten super quick healing as one of his vampire traits an annoyance certainly, he could heal faster than the average human but not equal to one of the undead. Harry had though an extremely high pain tolerance and could ignore even life threatening injuries for long periods of time.

An infected cut would not bother him much unless someone or something hit him very hard, Harry just hoped it would heal on its own he didn't want to got to the matron again. Stepping into the shower he turned the water up to scalding and washed the grubbiness of vampire and forest away.

---- -------

The journey to Dumbledore's office was not a pleasant one, in his mind Harry went over all the outcomes. Worst case scenario would be getting expelled, then he would have to return to Finland without the results from Britain, he would have failed. Harry could just picture what Joe would say if he found out Harry was expelled.

Harry reached the stone gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office, he stared at it for a moment or two before speaking

'Harry Potter, here to see the headmaster'

There was a moments pause before the gargoyle sprung open, Harry studied the stairs for instant before walking forwards. Voices reached his ears as he approached the inner door of Dumbledore's office

'I think it would be best Neville' Dumbledore was saying calmly 'At least we have reason to believe he'll contact you. But now it is time for you now to get on with your Saturday, I'm sure you've got plenty to do and I have student to talk to'

Footsteps neared the door as Harry drew near to it, the door opened before Harry reached it and Neville emerged he looked surprised when he saw Harry but he acknowledged Harry with a smile and kept walking

Harry knocked on the slightly ajar door and pushed it open, Dumbledore smiled at him as he entered the room

'Harry please come in' he said twinkling 'take a seat' he gestured to the chair by his desk

Harry sat down hesitantly and watched Dumbledore waiting for him to speak

'You know why you're here' Dumbledore said the humour gone from his eyes 'usually this would be a matter for your head of house, however as a recent exchange student I decided to handle the issue myself'

'I didn't mean to cause any trouble' Harry said truthfully 'I didn't expect anyone to notice that I'd gone'

Dumbledore looked sad at these words 'I understand Harry that you have no legal guardian, no one to notice if you go?'

Harry nodded his head what Dumbledore was saying was true but by choice he preferred people not to notice he'd gone 'after I got off the streets I had a guardian but he died'

'Who has custody of you then?' Dumbledore asked perplexed

'My guardian…' Harry chose his words carefully in case Dumbledore put the pieces together 'he looked after other children as well as his own daughter, when he died his sister looked after us, but she is not my guardian she just makes sure I have an education and a home'

Dumbledore inclined his head in understanding 'Sirius is your legal guardian if you are willing while you are in this country you have to have one and if you need someone to care for you will find him extremely eager'

Harry nodded his head but didn't say anything, Dumbledore seemed to understand as he changed the subject

'You broke school rules in your walk' he admonished getting to the reason of why they were there 'you need to be punished I'm afraid'

Harry breathed a silent sigh of relief, he could live with a punishment just not expulsion

'As punishment I think a fortnight in detention with the DADA department' decided the headmaster 'and next time you should feel inclined to take a walk, please let us know'

-----------

Harry went to breakfast purely for the post, the apprehension and concern he had felt earlier had now magnified into gut clenching fear. Kay was one of the people he held the most trust in, if anyone could help Alyssa it was him, but miscalculations did happen. And Harry didn't know what he'd do if something happened to Alyssa, she was like a sister to him.

The Hall was half full when Harry entered, a tired Neville sat halfway down the table opposite Hermione, he was whispering to her quickly and secretively. Both were dressed in weekend clothes like Harry such as jeans and emblazoned tops. Harry decided to do the polite thing and listened in.

'Voldemort's worried the Blood Slayer's going to join with me' Neville was saying

This definitely perked Harry's interest, why would this big bad wizard fear Harry, his fight was with the vampire community.

'He should be worried' Hermione whispered back 'As they've joined forces I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you did'

'Yeh' Neville stated 'but we haven't got a clue who this guy is, it could be anyone!'

'He might even be someone we already know' agreed Hermione 'I mean he's about our age isn't he?'

Harry unease fill him, if they found out what Harry was then they would put him and themselves in danger. He also had no intention of joining in with another war, he had his own to contend with already

'Harry!' someone from behind called

Turning Harry saw Ron approach him 'morning' he replied brusquely

They reached the table together and sat down, Hermione turned to look at them, she regarded Harry doubtfully

'I'm glad you're fine after your disappearance' she said reproachfully

Harry smiled at her 'I never expected to cause so much fuss' he replied ruefully 'it was a heck of a surprise to find everyone looking for me'

Ron grinned 'all the teachers were looking, and…'

He was cut off by the screech of owls overhead, Harry jerked his head up and studied the group. One immediately caught his attention, it also caught the attention of many other people

It was Ivy's bird, she was the 'sister' Harry had mentioned to Dumbledore. If she was writing to him then things must be bad and to send her phoenix with the letter only implied that they were about to get worse

The phoenix swooped down and Harry rose to his feet holding out his arm for Jenks to land on, the phoenix perched on Harry's arm and stuck out his leg, Harry grabbed the letter with his free hand and tore it open, instead though of a written message, Ivy's voice ripped out across the hall

'HARRY!' it screamed 'STAY AT HOGWARTS! WHATEVER HAPPEN'S STAY AT HOGWARTS! I HAD TO SEND THIS MESSAGE AS I RAN OUT OF TIME. WE ARE NOT SAFE AT THE HOUSE. I'M STILL TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ALYSSA, AND SHE IS STILL AT PANAJ'S HOUSE! I MEAN IT HARRY, STAY! YOU'LL ONLY BE IN DANGER IF YOU LEAVE. WERE MOVING OUT OF GANNAN, I'LL CONTACT YOU'

The voice cut off suddenly and the hall remained silent all staring at Harry who had gone white and looked scared out of his wits, he didn't move for a few seconds and a couple of teachers stood up intending to see what the letter had meant

Some teachers including Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus wondered exactly what Harry was keeping from them all, from the sound of the letter it hadn't sounded good

Harry was shocked beyond belief, the message had been clear. The mission had failed Alyssa was still in Japan and people were looking for her. What Harry really wanted to do was leave Hogwarts and look for her, Ivy had realised Harry would want to do this and had expressively warned him not to leave, if it had been anyone else he may have ignored the instruction, however he respected Ivy and her judgement.

Harry stretched his hand out and cast a wandless, silent spell, a piece of paper appeared in his hand along with a pen, leaning on the Gryffindor table he wrote out a quick reply in Finnish cursing Ivy for speaking English in her message, though if she was stressed she always reverted to English.

_**Ivy,**_

_**Staying at Hogwarts, alert me if anything changes, if A isn't back by Halloween I'm going to look for her! Be careful **_

_**Harry**_

He attached it quickly to Jenks leg, the phoenix flew off immediately, back to the long journey it had just finished

Now the phoenix was gone Harry noticed the stares he was getting, he ignored the concerned looks from the three Gryffindors and began to walk from the room, conversations immediately started again as people went back to their breakfasts.

---------------

Harry went straight to the grounds of Hogwarts and sat down on the smooth lawn, he was only there a short while before footsteps sounded behind him, Harry thought it was initially Ron, Neville and Hermione. However when he turned he saw Malfoy walking towards him a slimy smirk on his face

'Awww!' he said 'did Harry get bed news, did mummy have to tell him to stay safe'

he laughed coldly and the two goons either side echoed the sound

Harry gritted his teeth in anger 'my parents are dead Malfoy, if my 'mummy' was writing me letters then something impossible happened;

Malfoy didn't look the slightest bit perturbed at Harry's sentence 'I saw you all alone and decided to get my own back' he spat 'no-one embarrasses a Malfoy!'

'Strange' Harry replied forcing a smile on his face 'I thought I did'

Malfoy's face lost the humour and the boy pulled his wand out, pointing at Harry 'fight me and I'll show you exactly what I mean'

'Don't bother' Harry said disgusted not getting up 'it's not worth me beating you again'

Anger flashed across Malfoy's face and Harry realised the boy wasn't going to leave voluntarily. Harry really couldn't be bothered to fight with Draco, he was worried about his family and the cut on his arm had started to burn painfully, the long sleeves of his black t-shirt were also to warm

Draco pointed his wand at Harry and shouted 'Reducto!'

Harry remained sitting on the ground deflecting the spell easily as if he was swatting a fly. Draco's pale cheeks flushed with rage, out of the doors emerged a small first year, the girl took on look at the situation before running straight back into the hall shouting 'FIGHT!'

'You might as well stop now or you'll just humiliate yourself' Harry said annoyance creeping into his voice

Students began pouring out of the main doors all interested in seeing the tussle, Malfoy raised his wand high above his head and began to scream 'LECI…'

Before he could finish the hex Harry flicked his wrist and disarmed him casually, teachers were also making their way to the front of the crowd, Remus and Black in the lead

Malfoy looked at his empty hand and back at his wand, he made to go towards it bur Harry summoned it to him in the flash and broke the wand in two

'You broke my wand!' Malfoy yelled his hair falling out of place

'You attacked me' Harry replied evenly 'it's my right to destroy your weapon'

Harry thought argument was over, as did many of the students who were whispering excitedly, Ron, Hermione and Neville were also battling the crowds to reach Harry

The teachers were nearly upon them but Malfoy was so incensed he forgot all wizard fighting and instead seemed intent on a good muggle brawl. He sprung on Harry his fist raised, he was attacking without experience though. As he got close to Harry's face Harry launched into action, some combat was just what he needed to distract him

Harry pushed up span a kick into Malfoy's legs, the blow knocked him to the ground and he pushed himself back up determined not to beaten by Harry again, he lunged at Harry aiming for his throat, Harry easily deflected the blow with a block and cracked a punch out knocking Malfoy back onto his arse without hurting the boy.

Malfoy was about to get up again so Harry decided to end the fight quickly, he placed his foot on Malfoy's neck and forced him back down

'Do you yield?' Harry asked patiently

'What the fuck do you mean? Yield?' Malfoy spat

'Uneducated and inexperienced' Harry said loudly enough for the crowd to hear, sniggers followed his words

Lupin and Sirius finally reached the fray, they both went forward and tugged Harry gently off Malfoy

'He's not worth it' Lupin said quietly

Harry nodded in agreement and lifted his foot away from Malfoy who was burning with humiliation

'Snape can sort your punishment out' Sirius said disgusted to Malfoy

'But he attacked me!' Malfoy responded plaintively

'We all know that's not true' Lupin answered quickly, he glanced around and saw the majority of the pupils being shipped back into the castle by McGonagall and Flitwick

Eventually only the teachers, Harry, Malfoy, Ron, Neville and Hermione remained

Snape strode up to Malfoy annoyed 'My office Draco NOW!' he hissed angrily

Malfoy left immediately followed by Snape and Crabbe and Goyle

Harry looked at Sirius and Lupin 'I guess I just attract trouble' he joked lamely

Lupin and Sirius both smiled 'just like your father' Lupin said

'He seemed to attract trouble as well' agreed Sirius

Lupin sniffed the air distracted, the same smell of blood he had smelt last night reached his nostrils this time with a sent of infection, it was definitely coming from Harry's arm reaching out he touched it gently with his finger, Harry flinched at the touch. Sirius looked concerned at Harry's reaction but realised when he looked at Lupin's finger

It was covered in blood


	8. Hospital Wing

**This is one of the quickest updates I've done so far so I'd like to thank**

**SseverusSnapeGirl5690,**

**Fabrielle**

**and **

**queen of death and vampires**

**For managing to review so quickly. I hope you enjoy it! X X **

Chapter Eight

They all stared Harry for a moment who squirmed under the gazes of the two DADA teachers

'Were you planning to do anything about all that blood?' Sirius asked amazed at the foolishness of his Godson

'I didn't think it was that bad' Harry answered honestly 'I've been injured before and they've healed on their own'

Sirius reached to Harry's arm and tore the dark sleeve away from his arm, the material was wet with blood, and its colour had helped conceal Harry's injury. The damage underneath looked terrible, the wound was streaming blood and pus down Harry's arm

Everyone gazed at it shocked, Harry shrugged and said 'I've had worse'

This announcement brought looks of incredulity.

'What?' he asked

'Harry this is infected!' Lupin answered 'it's looks bad too, you need to go to the Hospital Wing'

Harry yanked his arm back and stepped backwards away from the group 'Hell No!' he replied coolly 'I'm not going anywhere near any hospital, not a chance in hell would get me there'

'Harry there is no option here' Sirius said calmly 'you need to get that seen to'

-

While they were having this conversation Hermione was staring avidly at Harry's arm, not at the blood but at the inscription visible underneath. It was definitely writing of some kind in a type of runes, Hermione tried to commit the swirling pattern to memory before she forgot it, it definitely warranted a closer inspection and some searching in the library

-

'You're going to the Hospital Wing' Sirius said with obvious finality

'Make me' replied Harry looking Sirius straight in the eyes

'Just watch me' answered Sirius

'Were concerned Harry' Lupin joined 'Sirius is right, that has to be looked at, before it gets worse'

'I don't like Hospitals' Harry said sincerely

**Flashback- 11 years ago**

Harry hunched down in the hospital bed trying to avoid being seen, by the nurses. They were awful, they put Harry in cold baths to wash away the 'dirt' of his experience, the matron said it built character as he had no-one to build it for him.

All the other children had parents who brought them sweets and chocolate and spent all day with them, Harry was left at the end of the ward on his own.

No-one cared about him, he was just a nuisance who needed to be looked after. Most of the nurses avoided him, he was a 'broken child' one who lay silently all day and screamed all night as nightmares plagued him

When he didn't eat the food that they gave him the matron used to force it down his throat and seemed to get some satisfaction at watching him throw it all back up

To Harry hospitals were bad places, were shattered children were sent

-----------

Going to the Hospital Wing for eye drops was a far stretch to going for an actual injury

'Even if you don't like hospitals that still has to be looked at and would you rather walk into the wing or end up being carried in there' Sirius asked

Harry actually looked like he was considering the options for a moment

'Don't be daft' Lupin added, the scent of Harry's blood was strange, it was like human blood, just off slightly as if something had been added to it

'Just the Hospital Wing?' Harry looked at the two men again

Sirius gestured emphatically 'definitely just the Hospital Wing' the blood was now dripping onto the lawn staining it red

Lupin reached for Harry's arm hesitantly, when Harry didn't pull way he raised it high to try and staunch the flow

'Did this happen last night?' Sirius asked concerned

'Um yeh' Harry answered watching the blood flow, every drop hitting the floor reminded him he needed to replenish his blood, loosing this much was draining his energy even though he had only eaten the night before. Thinking back to his stock Harry realised he had only one vial left

He had to go hunting…

'Why didn't you say anything' asked Lupin

Harry shrugged (not an easy feat with his arm above his head) 'I've had to take care of myself in the past, I'm used to it'

Sirius and Lupin looked downcast at this announcement but they both shrugged it off

'Right then' Sirius said 'Hospital Wing Now!'

He gave Harry a small nudge in the direction when Harry didn't move

'I'm going don't worry' he moaned 'just slowly'

The other teachers started to make there way back to the castle

'Are you coming' Lupin asked the three Gryffindors

'I have to go to the library' Hermione said excitedly 'I'll see you later, good luck Harry' before turning and heading in the direction of the library

Ron was going pale at the sight of all the blood and every so often he would heave slightly, Neville even looked a bit sick

'Um I suddenly remembered I have to do that um… essay' Ron said pathetically heaving once more

Harry smiled at the two of them 'its ok, you don't have to stay'

'Thanks' Neville said weakly 'I would stay but… well yeh'

The two lads headed back to the castle

'See you later Harry' they both called

Sirius nudged Harry again 'come on you might as well get this over with'

'Can't wait' Harry said sarcastically

----------

As soon as they entered the Hospital Wing Madam Pomfrey jumped on them

'What happened here?' she asked briskly motioning towards a bed

Lupin and Sirius both pushed Harry this time, who didn't seem to have any intention of sitting down

'Oh come on Mr Potter' she said rushed 'sit down before you fall down'

Harry sat down apprehensively on the edge of the bed, Lupin stood to on his good arms side and Sirius stood behind him. Madam Pomfey probed the wound gently with her fingers making annoyed noises

'How did this happen' she asked

'Um…' Harry said deciding on what would most likely sound like the truth 'A talon of one of the animals in the forest caught me'

'You did this last night and yet you never said anything' she chided

'It didn't look that bad last night' Harry said dejectedly

'If we hadn't have found out' Sirius asked 'would you have come here on your own?'

'Um…' Harry said again 'maybe, if it got any worse'

They all stared at his arm

'Any worse' repeated Lupin

'You'll have to sleep here tonight' Madam Pomfrey announced leaning back 'It will take me a while to heal it and then I'll have to keep an eye on it'

'NO WAY!' Harry yelled jumping up

Sirius pushed him back down from behind with a thump

'What's so wrong with the Hospital Wing' he asked confused

'I don't like Hospitals' Harry said panicking 'I hate them! I do not want to stay in one overnight'

'If you don't stay here tonight, it could get re-infected' Madam Pomfrey reasoned 'then you'll be staying a lot longer than one night'

Harry knew when he was beaten but the sense of dread still filled him. Madam Pomfrey summoned a huge bowl of hot water she then wet a towel in it, she wrung the towel and went towards Harry's arm

Harry lurched away from her only to be pushed back by Sirius and Lupin 'It's only water' Sirius said tiredly, he was angry at himself for not being there to help Harry grow up, if he had been there then Harry probably wouldn't have to experience whatever made him fear hospitals

'I can't help it' Harry said annoyed 'I don't like being nursed'

Lupin and Sirius held Harry on the bed with light pressure, more a warning than a physical block. Madam Pomfrey began cleaning the blood and pus from his arm, Harry couldn't help but lean away slightly

After all the gore had gone the wound was clear and displayed, it still bled slightly. It was larger than Harry had initially thought, however it was still smaller than injuries he'd had before.

'A talon did this' Madam Pomfrey said sceptically

'Yeh' Harry said defensively 'it was a big talon'

She flicked her wand and a bottle spun into her hand, she uncapped it and poured some of the red liquid on Harry's arm, it smoked and hissed on contact. Harry ignored the small pain it generated keeping absolutely still. When the dose had finished smoking, the nurse poured more on his arm which also smoked. She kept doing this until the potion had no reaction when it came in contact with Harry's bicep

'Are you allergic to anything?' she asked examining his arm again 'there seems to be an allergic rash surrounding this wound'

'Not that I know of' lied Harry quickly

She looked unconvinced again but she didn't say anything, instead she summoned some bandages from a tray and bound Harry's arm tightly

'Don't use this arm tonight' she warned 'and don't get it dirty, though I don't know how you'd manage that in here'

Harry nodded smiling to himself, he knew exactly how he'd get it dirty with what he had planned tonight'

----------

Lupin and Sirius left soon after with promises to return, Neville and Ron arrived soon after they had departed peering nervously into the room

'All the blood's gone' Harry called smirking

They both smiled guiltily and walked towards Harry

'How long are you stuck here for?' Ron inquired interested

'Till tomorrow' Harry said savagely 'great or what'

'Never mind' Neville said sympathetically 'at least you're not leaking blood anymore'

'You should have seen Malfoy' laughed Ron 'he has to help Hagrid clean out dead flobberworms, all week'

Harry laughed at this, he would pay to see the expression on Draco's face when he had to do that

'We could here him shouting from the dungeons' Neville said happily 'is there anything we can get you from the dormitory?'

'Yeh' Harry said mentally thanking Neville 'can you get me some of my clothes, these are covered in blood'

'Sure' Neville said

'Anything else' Ron asked

Harry pretended to think for a moment 'could you get me the wooden box under my bed it's got some stuff I need'

Both lads nodded not in the least bit suspicious of Harry's request

----

They returned half an hour later with a bag containing a pair of jeans (with lots of rips in them) and another black top this time with a Finnish band emblazoned on the front and some black converse. They also had brought the box Harry had requested, it was about the size of an A4 sheet of paper and about 20cm's deep

'Here you go' Ron said offloading the stuff on Harry's bed 'the stuff you asked for'

'We have to go though' Neville said wistfully, he wanted to stay and talk to Harry the homework he had mounting in his bag did not enthuse him 'homework'

'Maybe we can get Hermione to help us' Ron said unconvincingly

'Yeh' Neville scoffed 'and I'm Snape favourite pupil'

'What homework is it?' Harry asked generally interested, he had finished all his essays. He had found them easy compared to some of the work he's had to do in Hanskida

'Transfiguration' Neville said miserably 'I should have paid more attention in class, I haven't got a clue what the process is for turning dragons into ghouls'

'Do you want to see my essay' offered Harry 'I finished that homework yesterday'

'Please' Ron said slightly desperately 'if I don't get this done I won't have time to finish Snape's essay on the Kinsell potion'

Harry picked up the box and opened it with a key around his neck, inside was all his homework, he pulled out a long assay near the top and passed it to Ron

'Cheers' Neville said looking relieved 'I didn't know what we were going to do!'

Ron looked at Harry for a moment before asking 'I heard you went to the forest last night'

'Yeh' Harry answered 'have you been in there, I really want to go back, the range of animals in there was phenomenal'

'You want to go back!' Ron said shocked 'Not a chance in hell would get me back there'

'When did you go?' Harry asked genuinely interested

'In the first year Hermione and I went in and found Voldemort' Neville said shivering

'Second year Hagrid sent us in to follow the _spiders_' Ron shuddered visibly

'What happened?' Harry asked leaning forward

'We were attacked by giant spiders! Never again!' Ron juddered

-

They left soon after, off to do the homework they had forgotten. When they had left Harry changed into the clothes they had brought leaving off the shoes, he balled the bloody clothes up and shoved them into the laundry basket hastily. Madam Pomfrey was in her office sorting through lists of pupils

Harry sat cross legged on the bed and stared out of the window watching Hagrid as he fed a hippogriff with a dead rodent hanging off his arm. His eyes were stinging again in the bright light of the Hospital the eye drops were ok but he still got had headaches everyday with varying severity. Harry sighed and searched through the box, he took all the homework out and set it on the bed

Pressing a small button in the corner of the box released the false base of the box, below was a collection of empty blood vials and a book on vampires, the corners of the book was dog-eared and obviously well used. Opening it Harry searched the content page, it was a magical book which updated itself regularly as things changed in the vampire community. Harry turned to the obituaries and looked for recently killed, the names of three vampires stood at the top of the list, next to them was information

Vampire- Kasand,

Age- 89

Number of Victims -308

Killed- by the blood Slayer

Method of murder- decapitation

Previous escapades- recently joined in the vampire crusades of the third world…

Harry settled back for a good read

----

Late that afternoon sounds cam e from the closed door of the Hospital Wing, Harry shoved the book under his pillow and watched the doors closely

Sirius came through them balancing a tray, on top of which were two mugs. The smell of chocolate hit Harry's nose and he smiled at Sirius

'Hi Harry I thought you might be lonely after your isolated dinner'

Harry thought back to the meal he had vanished with a flick of his wrist 'yeh it was a bit boring' he replied

Sirius perched on the end of his bed and passed him a mug, the heat warmed Harry's cold hands sipping it gently he savoured the chocolaty taste as the liquid ran down his throat

'Thanks' Harry said gratefully 'I haven't had hot chocolate in ages'

'No one makes it like the house elves do' Sirius smiled and swallowed some of his own drink 'of all the things I missed in Azkaban this was top of the list'

'It's really good' agreed Harry, it seemed to him like he was actually getting to know Sirius, one thing he hadn't expect to gain in Britain was a Godfather

'Thanks for earlier' Harry said hesitantly

'For what' Sirius asked confused

'For you and Lupin making sure I was ok' supplied Harry 'I may not have seemed grateful, but I was'

'Harry I would never have done anything but help you' Sirius said honestly 'I owe it to you, and I promised James. I may have failed James but I don't intend to fail you'

Harry nodded at this announcement, emotions swirled inside him he didn't know how to express his gratitude to Sirius

'Is everything ok at home?' Sirius asked tentatively

'I don't have a home as such but I have a kind of surrogate family' Harry admitted 'but no not everything is ok there'

'You don't mind me asking what' Sirius enquired

Harry shook his head 'Rhys had a daughter who was two years older than me called Alyssa'

'Rhys was the one who was killed?' Sirius asked

'Yeh' Harry answered 'Llys and I were more like brother and sister than anything else. The woman who sent me that message was her aunt, Ivy-her aunt works for the Finnish government, she's in charge of finding dark wizards'

'What did she mean when she said that they weren't safe' Sirius asked interested

'The dark wizards must have found our house' Harry said without emotion (in fact it was vampires his aunt tracked, and it would have been vampires attacking the house, not wizards)

'I'm sorry' Sirius said softly 'will she be alright?'

'Oh yeh' Harry admitted 'we have plenty of safe houses, she's more worried at the fact Alyssa is out of contact' (been captured)

Harry thought about Ivy, she was in charge of the Vampire Assassins. She had probably already organised all of the assassins into another location and already started the children back on training. They had had to move twice last year under threat of discovery

'Will she be in danger?'

'People will be looking for her' Harry responded trying to change the subject 'What's it like teaching?'

'Strange' laughed Sirius 'I was always in trouble at school and to have to punish students I'd rather be applauding just makes it odder'

Harry laughed at this as well 'Lupin makes a good teacher' he said 'for a werewolf it must be hard'

Sirius jerked back at this 'how did you…?' he stuttered

'Relax' Harry smiled 'Ivy's a werewolf, I know the signs' Harry decided not to mention he had smelt wolf on Lupin

'Lupin manages' Sirius said eventually 'it saves me telling you he's a wolf I suppose'

'I thought werewolf's couldn't work in schools' Harry said puzzled

'Its not illegal' Sirius said trying to work out the explanation for Harry, the lad had accepted Remus's two-natured side as if it was an everyday occurrence 'Moony takes wolfsbane every full moons he's harmless also its illegal to discriminate against someone with a…'

'Furry problem' supplied Harry

'That's exactly what Prongs called it' laughed a voice from the door

Sirius and Harry both swung round to see Lupin 'Prongs?' Harry said raising an eyebrow

'Your Dad' Sirius explained 'we all had nicknames according to the animal we could transform into'

'What's yours then?' Harry prodded

'His is Padfoot' Lupin answered sitting on the bed opposite Harry's 'He turns into a doggy'

'I am not just a doggy' Sirius grinned 'I am a harbinger of death'

'What?' Harry said confused

'He looks like a Grim when he transforms' Remus said helpfully

Harry laughed again 'now that I'd like to see'

Sirius stood up and shook his robes out before turning into a large black dog

'Hell, you do look like a Grim' Harry answered 'the wagging tale does kind of ruin it though'

Remus laughed at this and Sirius transformed back looking perturbed

'I do not wag my tail' he insisted

---------------

When the two professors left the sun had began to set, Madam Pomfrey bustled out of her office and checked his wound

'It's already beginning to heal' she announced 'you'll be back in the Gryffindor common room tomorrow. And stop leaning away from me, I don't bite!'

'You'd be the first' Harry muttered

'What was that?' she enquired

'Nothing' insisted Harry

'You need to get ready for bed' Madam Pomfrey concluded 'Sleep heals better than any potion'

--

When she was gone, Harry conjured a dummy with black hair into his bed, he dressed it in his pyjamas and pulled the covers over it. If you didn't look too closely it could pass for being Harry. Harry pulled he then took the five blood vials out the wooden box and pushed them into the bag Neville and Ron and brought his clothes in

Heading over to the window Harry pushed it open and jumped out, landing softly he took off at a swift run towards the Forest.


	9. The Hunt

**Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, review or simply enjoy my story. I hope my writing will not disappoint anyone, please enjoy. A special thanks to:**

**Waiting not so Patiently,**

**alwaysariyana,**

**angelkitty,**

**Fabrielle,**

**SeverusSnapeGirl5960,**

**twiterpated,**

**queen of death and vampires,**

**hemotem**

**and**

**-Vandos-Girl-**

**Enjoy **

Chapter Nine

The grounds were empty as Harry sped across them, the only sign of life was the light in the window of Hagrid's hut. Harry hidden by the darkness was invisible to all who weren't looking for him, he entered the shade of the Forbidden Forest and slowed down to a walking pace.

Retracing his steps from the night before Harry wound his way back to the clearing slowly he kept glancing around guardedly in case a violent creature decided to taste him, he reached the clearing, this time it was empty, not a threstral in sight. Spiders ran across the floor in a single direction. Harry ignored them though and headed instead in the route he had come the previous night

Soon he reached the tree he had buried his weapons underneath, checking again for dangers Harry looked around, before turning back to the base of the tree. Leaning down he scrabbled at the loose earth that had blown across the hollow, digging his weapons out of the ground. He pulled them free and strapped them back on wishing he had a cloak to conceal them, they would not so easily be explained away if he was caught.

Harry turned his senses up to full tuning his sight, scent and hearing up to maximum, feeling his eyes change colour he breathed in the woody scent and glanced around looking for a suitable prey. His eyes at highest working order detected small flies as they flittered through the air, his ears heard the pattering of ants on the ground, his nose smelt centaur's roughly two hundred metres away.

Harry swept along the leaf strewn ground and hunted.

Ten minutes later a suitable victim made itself visible, an Achten grazed ahead of him

- An Achton was a member of the unicorn family, though unlike the sacred unicorn it was more likely compared to the poor second relations of the pure unicorns, it was not considered wrong to kill these creatures just slightly pointless as they were incredibly fast

The Achten looked like a cross between an antelope and a unicorn (without the horn) it was a glossy black colour and was barely visible to the untrained eye. Harry drew a blade silently from a sheath and advanced on the hapless animal. Harry skulked close to the ground keeping quite, the creature raised its head and took a step forward. Harry froze instinctively and waited for the animal to settle

When it ceased moving Harry took his chance and lunged forward, he slammed the knife hard into the creatures flank driving it in deep, the animal barely had time to react before the injury brought it to its knees. Harry pulled the bag open and yanked out the vials filling each quickly as the blood flowed out of its side, the smell would soon attract other animals, some of which Harry did not wish to meet. After he had capped the last jar he lent down and drank some of the warm blood

The taste of any magical creature's blood was drastically better than any non-magical creature. The only thing Harry hated doing was consuming the blood in such a primitive way, being a blood drinker did not mean you had to drink in squalor, it was just that Harry had run out of options this time having consumed too much of his blood to quickly.

Harry felt the blood coarse through his body renewing his energy resources and facilitating in his healing. The strength Harry felt run through him on drinking the blood, made Harry realise just how badly he'd needed it.

Harry wrenched his knife out of the animal and wiped it on the ground removing most of the gunk, replacing it in his sheath Harry turned and ran back to the edge of the forest pleased his small task had been a success.

When he reached the edge of the forest he searched around for any movement, detecting none he sprinted across the grounds his heart thundering at the prospect of discovery.

Harry approached the open window of the Hospital Wing and glanced up at it.

'How the shit am I gonna get back up there' he thought to himself

He touched the side of the wall, it had quite a few footholds imbedded in the rock. Formulating a plan in his head Harry dug his foot into one of the closest tractions, using his powers he floated slightly off the ground removing most of his weight from the equation, Harry then dug his fingers into gaps in the bricks and pulled himself up quickly ignoring the tenderness in his right arm. To anyone watching it would have looked like Spiderman was breaking in, instead of a sixth year pupil

'Breaking into a Hospital ' Harry muttered to himself 'I must be mad'

Harry reached the window and jumped into the empty Wing, Madam Pomfrey was still working in her office, Harry could tell by the light pooling out beneath the door.

Harry looked at the clean bed and then looked at himself, he was covered in dirt, his clothes were grimy with tiny splashes of blood on the t-shirt, his converse's soles were red with animal blood and brown with dirt, his jeans seemed ok though. The bandage on his own had faded to a slight gray, but otherwise looked okay

Harry vanished the dummy from his bed and pulled on the clean pyjamas, they were black PJ bottoms with a black short sleeved t-shirt decorated with a band screaming 'Rock Music Lives On!'

Harry pushed the clothes into the now empty laundry basket and the weapons into the wooden box along with the blood. Turning to his bed he sunk into the welcoming embrace of sleep

**Dream- 3 years ago -Canada**

**Harry stood at the edge of the Niagara Falls next to the Lake Ontario. Around seventy vampires closed in around him, Harry waved his own sword threateningly at the closest vampire**

'**Rhys!' he screamed in a child's voice 'What do I do?'**

'**Protect yourself!' came the yelled reply**

**From Harry's position he could make out Rhys fighting desperately with his sword, battling Riyak current Lord of the Vampires, It was a loosing battle and Rhys knew it, he was low on energy and even if he won more vampires would come. He swung round frantically to see Harry blocking Riyak with a blow from his sword**

'**Blood!' he yelled concealing Harry's true name **

**Harry screamed back 'Yes?'**

**Rhys cursed himself for getting into this position, he could either save himself or save Harry not both of them, the world needed Harry, Rhys was getting old anyway he didn't have to many years left in the game. A suicide mission would save Harry **

'**CATCH!' he called launching his blade to Harry and drawing his reserve sword**

**Harry caught it with one hand 'Why are you giving me this?' he cried**

'**It's yours now' Rhys yelled smashing a fist into Riyak's face to the vampires curses 'JUMP DOWN THE WATERFALL!'**

'**I'll die!' screamed a panicked Harry**

'**Trust me' yelled Rhys 'I'm proud of you Harry, I always will be! I love you! Tell Ivy and Alyssa I love them as well!'**

**Harry watched as his guardian slew two more vampires**

'**How sweet' mocked Riyak 'Love won't save you though' **

**With that the Vampire stabbed his knife into Rhys's back bringing the man to his knees**

'**JUMP!' the man yelled to Harry with his last surge of energy as pain converged in his body, Rhys knew he was going to die all alone on an open rock with only the devils creatures for comfort**

**Not thinking twice Harry jumped off the edge of the waterfall, looking back he saw Rhys being swamped with Vampires from all sides**

'**I love you to' whispered Harry as the water crashed over him **

---

Harry jerked awake his ragged breathing breaking the silence of the Hospital, trying frantically to get the image of Rhys out of his head he grabbed the glass of water by his bed and took a long drink looking at the clock it revealed the time to be three in the morning

Meanwhile

In the library Hermione poured over reference books, heaping more on the desk she was working at every minute, ripped pieces of paper and scribbled notes littered the area around her work space. Her hair fluffed frantically as she brushed it out of her eyes impatiently

The inscriptions on Harry's arm were fascinating, it had taken her all day to identify the language that had been used, it was more like ancient, ancient runes than anything else. Even with the proper books some of the symbols were unidentifiable. Hermione was relying on some educated guesswork to classify some of the markings

It interested her more in the reason why Harry had it on his arm. It hadn't looked like a tattoo, more like a magical emblem which were rare but not unknown (they appeared on their own)

An hour later Hermione sat back and read the caption she had deciphered

_He is _

_Half of one, and Half of another_

_Half of Light, Half of Dark_

_Half of Living, Half of Death_

_Half of Heaven, Half of Hell_

_Half of Love, Half of Hate_

_Yet Goodness Prevails _

It took a Hermione a second to process what she was reading and even then she had a hard time believing it, if she was to believe this than Harry was something she would never have suspected

Though thinking about it made her suspicions reasonable, his behaviour after Lupin's class, his avoidance of mealtimes, she even recognised his voice as the one that came from the crystal globe

Hermione rubbed her tired eyes and wondered exactly she was going to do with her discovery

----------

Madam Pomfrey was utterly bewildered the next day as to how Harry had managed to ruin his bandage

'You were in bed all night' she insisted 'yet you look like you've been trekking'

'I haven't though' Harry answered slightly impatient in his need to leave the Hospital Wing 'Can I go now?'

'Yes off you go' she agreed 'Just be careful with that arm and try not to destroy the new bandage

--

Harry made his way back slowly to the common room dressed in the clothes the house elves had left clean on his bed, it was still early enough for the sun not to have fully risen outside. As he passed the library a curly headed figure jumped out at him

'I don't know how it's possible' Hermione garbled at Harry

'How what's possible?' Harry asked, but a sinking feeling had already filled him

'You're him' she burst out 'The Blood Slayer. The markings on your arm, it shows everything'

'That's just a tattoo I got last year' Harry lied calculating in his head how he was going to get out of it

'It's a magical inscription not a tattoo' Hermione said impatiently 'allow me to know the difference'

'Have you told anyone else?' Harry asked urgently looking round and checking they were alone

'Of course not I…'

'Obliviate Suggestiva!' Harry cursed flicking his wand at Hermione with regret

A listless fell over Hermione's features and she gazed at Harry as if in a haze

'You did not find out what I was' Harry proposed to Hermione 'instead you ran to the library to do some revision on Charms, you fell asleep at about midnight and stayed in the library all night'

'In the library' repeated Hermione

'That's right' agreed Harry 'I'm really sorry I had to do this Hermione, and I'm really sorry about this, Sleepus!

Hermione fell limp and Harry caught her deftly in his arms, he walked back into the empty library and set Hermione at a desk propping her head on her hands. He then summoned lots of N.E.W.T charm books and spread them around her, open at random pages. Walking over to Hermione's previous workplace Harry pushed all the paper balls into a pile and cindered them with a fire spell. Collecting all of the books up Harry stacked them back on an empty shelf, taking one last look to check everything was ok before leaving

Sadness filled Harry, he really hadn't wanted to do that, Harry had hoped to miss detection completely, however that seemed ever more impossible. Harry just supposed he had better not let Hermione see his arm ever again, or risk another reveal

-----

Harry entered the Dormitory silently the other boys carried on sleeping in blissful ignorance. Harry replaced the box under his bed and headed into the bathroom, he pulled off the bandage and dropped it in the bin, he had stopped bleeding yesterday, so he didn't need a bandage. The wound was looking just like a normal gash, no sign of the puffy mess that had been there before.

Harry stepped into the warmness off the shower and considered what had happened downstairs, if anyone found out what he had done then he would be expelled, not to mention discovered. Shame filled him as he thought of Hermione, though he had only been protecting himself he thought dully.

Harry dried his hair with a towel and pinned it in a ponytail at the back of his neck, going to his trunk Harry pulled out a pair of black jeans, another pair of black converse, a white vest-top and a black long-sleeved shirt. Dressing quickly he also added a mix of knives to the outfit, hidden all over his body - he left out the sword and Holy Water bombs, they sang of 'slight overkill' for a trip to Hogsmeade in the daytime

By the time Harry was dressed the other lad's had started to stir Ron shoved his head out of the hangings and stared blearily at Harry

'What time is it?' he groaned

'About quarter to eight' Harry answered

Neville climbed out of his own bed and stretched his arms over his head

'We've got to find Hermione' he said to Ron who had slumped back into bed

'Why?' came the tired reply

'She wanted to tell us something' Neville shrugged 'she said it was urgent'

Harry felt a pit of ice fall in his stomach as he listened to the conversation

'I can go and find her if you want'

'Hang on minute and we'll come' Ron answered grabbing a pair of socks of the floor and brushing the fluff off

'Yeh' agreed Neville as he stumbled into the bathroom 'just give me five minutes'

----

Fifteen minutes later they eventually left the Gryffindor Tower and headed to the library after finding Hermione to be absent from the common room

As they walked to the library, Harry hoped his spell had worked, they usually were foolproof until last year when a Dwarf's memory's were triggered by a raw steak.

Neville entered the library first and spotted Hermione asleep in a chair, he gestured over to her

'Who wants to wake her up?'

'Not me' Ron grinned 'last time she hexed me, took me ages to get rid of the boils'

'Harry?' Neville asked

'No thanks' Harry smiled 'I make it a rule never to wake anything that's asleep on purpose'

'Guess it's me then' muttered Neville walking over to Hermione, when he reached her he shook her gently 'Hermione, wakey, wakey time'

Hermione jerked up and grabbed for her wand, Neville jumped behind a stack of books

'Oh calm down' she said yawning 'I wouldn't curse you on purpose'

'Didn't stop you last time' Ron murmured under his breath

'What was that?' Hermione demanded

'Nothing' Ron said quickly

'What did you need to tell Ron and Neville' Harry asked uneasily

'Oh that' Hermione said looking over at the desk she had been 'working' at 'It was something to do with the Charms homework we were set, but I'm not quite sure what I was going to tell you'

'You got us out of bed on a Sunday morning for homework, and then you can't even remember what it was you were going to tell us' Ron said exasperated

'Sorry' Hermione said 'it mustn't have been that important'

Harry let a silent sigh of relief out. His spell had worked, Hermione did not remember her discovery

'Let's get some breakfast' Neville suggested heading out of the library 'I'm starving'

'I'll catch up with you' Hermione answered 'I have to get something from the common room'

'See you later then' Neville said going through the door

'Meet us by the main doors for Hogsmeade' Ron added before following Neville 'are coming later Harry?'

'Sirius asked me to go with him' Harry replied 'it's so we can get to know each other'

'That's great' Neville's voice floated back to Hermione through the open library doors 'Is Remus going as well?'

-

Hermione quickly gathered her bag up and quickly headed out of the Library heading in the opposite direction to the one taken by the three lads. She sped to Dumbledore's office

'Hermione Granger' she breathed 'here with important information regarding the Blood Slayer'


	10. Hogsmeade

**Thank you once again to anyone who has reviewed my story, I am having so much fun writing it- though my school work is definitely being affected. A special thanks to:**

**angelkitty,**

**SeverusSnapeGirl5960,**

**hpfreakandproud,**

**Fabrielle,**

**queen of death and vampires,**

**-Vandos-Girl-,**

**The-XCORE-Writer**

**And**

**hpnut1 **

Chapter Ten

The gargoyle swung open immediately and Hermione pelted up the stone stairs and banged on the door to Dumbledore's office

'Come in' came the headmasters voice

Hermione hurried through the door and walked up to the large desk

'Professor, I know someone who knows who the Blood Slayer is!'

Dumbledore sat up straight in his chair and regarded Hermione with surprise

'Are you quite sure Miss Granger?'

'Definitely' Hermione replied 'When I don't know what happened but I looked at him and I immediately thought 'he knows something about the Blood Slayer''

'Why do you think he knows something?' Dumbledore leant forward concerned 'did he do something?'

'I don't know' Hermione sighed 'It's like I know something but I don't know what it is, I just know that he knows something'

'Who is it?' Dumbledore asked the anticipation surging through his body that they may have found someone who had useful information

'Harry'

---------------

Harry waited in the Entrance Hall for Sirius to arrive, he came hurrying over five minutes before the doors opened looking harried dressed in a thick cloak

'Sorry I'm late' he apologized 'I had to avoid the headmaster. He wanted to speak to me'

'The doors haven't opened yet' Harry answered 'so you're not late'

Sirius smiled at Harry's practical answer 'Filch is here so we should be setting off soon'

Harry nodded and drew his short black leather jacket closer around him

'I heard that the three broomsticks serve's butterbeer?'

'Yeh' Sirius replied 'some butterbeer would warm us up in Hogsmeade, I hate the end of October, the only good thing is Halloween. Are you going on Tuesday?'

'I like October here it warmer than Finland. You probably wouldn't last' Harry grinned 'What's happening on Tuesday anyway?'

'You don't know' Sirius asked 'Tuesday's Halloween, every Halloween the school goes into Hogsmeade to watch the fireworks display'

'HOGSMEADE TRIP!' screeched Filch down Harry's ear 'DOORS OPEN NOW!'

'Fucking Bloody Hell!' Swore Harry 'What are you? A Shitting Gnat'

Filch puffed himself up angrily 'I don't hold for hearing swear words aimed at me' he wheezed 'If I hear it again I'll be going to your head of house!'

Harry just watched him unimpressed 'Really' he said sarcastically 'Maybe I just react badly having a festering man shriek down my ear, it kind of hurts'

Filch turned angrily to Sirius 'you're a professor ain't you gonna punish him?'

'Punish him?' Sirius said surprised 'why would I do that?'

Harry laughed out loud at Sirius's question, and received a death glare from Filch in return

'I remember when you used to be in detention' he seethed 'you were always a baddun'

Filch sloped off his cat following him at a steady pace. Sirius gazed after him a look of shock plastered on his face. Harry glanced up at his face

'You got bested by Filch' he said mockingly

'If you tell Moony' Sirius threatened coming back to life 'I will dedicate my life to making yours hell'

'Sure you will' Harry smirked heading out of the main doors 'are you coming or what?'

Sirius hurried after him sidestepping a gormless third year, catching up with Harry they walked quickly against the cold air towards the village

----------

'You called' Lupin said stepping out of the headmaster's fire

'Remus thank you for coming so quickly' Dumbledore said walking over to the man 'I have just received some interesting information from Hermione Granger'

'Oh' Lupin said looking at Dumbledore 'What information would she be able to supply?

'She believes' Dumbledore started 'that Harry knows something about the identity of the Blood Slayer'

'Harry' jerked Remus 'Harry Potter?'

'So it would seem' nodded Dumbledore

'What does she think he knows?' Remus asked urgently worry for his adopted godson filling him

'She's not sure' Dumbledore answered 'She says saw Harry and suddenly she had a feeling he knew something'

'Not very specific though is it?' Remus said frowning 'I'm all for gut feelings but without proof, it's not much use'

'I'm inclined to agree with you' Dumbledore admitted 'though we can't dismiss the idea, we can't exactly just confront Harry and ask him what he knows about the Blood Slayer'

'I can understand that' Remus agreed 'though I must admit his scent is strange'

'Strange?'

Remus looked awkward 'I smelt his blood and it wasn't completely normal'

'Kay did say that they 'collected' children with special abilities maybe Harry's blood mixed with something that gave him that edge' Dumbledore proposed

'Maybe' Remus concurred 'If Harry does indeed know something then we can only presume Harry has something to do with the Vampire Assassins'

-------------

When Harry and Sirius reached Hogsmeade they passed a few shops until Sirius came to halt in front of Honeydukes. The shop was already full of students, pushed into the shop and jostled each other in attempts to reach the sweet laden shelves

'Come on Harry' grinned Sirius 'lets get some sweets'

Harry plastered a fake smile on his face and nodded in consent with Sirius's suggestion, inside though his stomach had dropped at the thought of solid food

'Sweets!' Harry said unenthusiastically 'haven't had some of those in a while'

'Really?' Sirius said surprised 'what are your favourite types?'

'Boiled sweets or lollipops' Harry answered thinking of the ones he could dissolve into liquid, hopefully they wouldn't make him throw-up – hopefully

'Right then' Sirius pulled some money out 'lets get some stuff to rot our teeth'

Sirius pushed his way into the shop and herded pupils out of the way 'Professor coming through' he called 'move over and make some room'

Most shifted out of his way leaving a path clear for Sirius and Harry to walk through they reached a large display filled with lollipops of all shapes and sizes,

'Go ahead' pushed Sirius 'ten lolly's for a sickle'

Harry grabbed a bag and selected a couple of the sugared candies, a bunch caught his eye glowing red

**Blood Pops **and then in brackets _(for the vampires)_

Harry glanced over to Sirius, he was engrossed in choice of dancing chocolate Halloween characters. Turning back to the Blood Pops Harry shoved three into the bag and covered them over with other lollipops

Maybe Honeydukes wasn't that bad after all

After they had paid for their sweets they walked back into the street and headed instead to the Three Broomsticks, they entered another packed environment and Sirius booted couple of students off their table who had long since finished their drinks.

'You keep the table' Sirius motioned pushing Harry towards a chair 'I'll get the drinks'

Harry flopped down into the chair and watched Sirius as he forced his way to the bar Lupin entered the pub and looked over to Harry

'Where's Sirius' he mouthed

Harry pointed to his Godfather at the bar and Lupin quickly hurried his way, the tiredness on his face prodded Harry into listening in to yet another conversation. Lupin touched Sirius's arm lightly and pointed outside, Sirius nodded and gestured to Harry

'Two minutes' he called over the noise

Harry waved his hand in reply and Sirius and Remus headed outside

'What?' Sirius burst 'Dumbledore thinks Harry may know something of importance about the Blood Slayer!'

Harry felt a fist of ice curl around his heart, they knew he had something to do with the Blood Slayer, however luckily they hadn't yet realised it was Harry. Though, Harry supposed it was only a matter of extremely limited time

'How are we going to ask him' Lupin said desperately 'is he going to start ignoring us again?'

'It took him ages to trust us in the first place' Sirius groaned rubbing his face with his hands 'what are we going to say. Harry what exactly do you know about a Vampire Assassin, and by the way are you one as well?'

'I'm sure it'll go down a treat' Lupin sighed 'Maybe then we can ask him where he has been for the last eight years ago'

Harry was so distracted by the discussion outside he had ignored what was happening around him. A hand grabbed his shoulder Harry whipped around and came face to face with a gnarled face belonging to elderly woman, she was beyond ugly and her teeth stuck out of her mouth yellow and crooked, her face had o many lines they looked like the contours on a map

'Vien' Harry breathed 'why are you here?'

'I was sent to update you' she croaked out 'Ivy sent me'

'What's happening' Harry asked urgently 'did they find her?'

'I'm sorry to disappoint you' she said tearfully taking the seat opposite Harry 'They haven't been able to find her yet, they went to her flat and there were signs of a struggle'

'Do they know if she's even alive?' Harry asked fearing the answer

'She's still alive' comforted Vien 'The vampires need her, though we fear for her safety'

Harry leant back in his chair and stared up to the ceiling not sure whether to cry or cheer 'I'm going after her' he said decisively

'You will not!' Vien ordered 'You gave your word you would wait until Halloween night, and you will keep your word'

'How can I Vien?' Harry said desperately 'she my sister I can't just sit back and leave others to find her'

'You can and you will' she insisted 'you're needed here, and here you have to stay. Some of the best Assassins are out looking for her, other missions have been put on hold'

'Two days' Harry consented 'and then I go after her'

'I would expect nothing less' settled Vien 'I have to go, your friends are returning and it would not be productive for me to be found here'

'Thank you for coming' Harry said quietly 'you took a risk'

'For you my child, I would travel to Hell' with that she simply dissolved into the air leaving no trace of her ever being present

-

Remus and Sirius had turned to look over at Harry just as Vien was vanishing, her choice of style left no doubt in their minds

'He's an Assassin' whispered Sirius in horror

Both men felt dread consuming them as they both felt that they had failed to protect James's only child. They entered the Three Broomsticks and strode quickly towards Harry, he was staring morosely at the empty chair opposite him and didn't even turn when they approached

'Harry' Lupin began 'we need to get back to the castle, Dumbledore needs to speak with us'

Harry nodded silently 'sure' he muttered 'if you don't mind I'll stick around for a while'

'Yeh, enjoy yourself' encouraged Sirius half-heartedly 'we'll see you later then'

'Bye' murmured staring venomously at the chair once more

--------

Shortly after they had gone Harry exited the pub and walked slowly down the street his mind buzzing with information, above all he was angry that he had to stay in Hogsmeade when obviously all the other Assassins were doing something constructive, just on the outsides of Hogsmeade Harry reached a huge field

A mountainous bonfire stood directly in the centre, it was at least ten metres high. Next to the bonfire a small wooden platform was placed around nine metres up ready for the lighter of the bonfire to stand. Beside the stack of wood a large section had been roped off, the inside portion was filled with huge firework rockets obviously for the Halloween celebrations.

Stalls decorated with bright colours littered the field waiting to be filled with themed souvenirs for the crowd to purchase. Dotted all over the field were witches and wizards organising final preparations for the show.

Harry passed by it and headed back to the school in the same direction Sirius and Remus had just taken. Harry was sorely tempted to apperate to Japan on the spot, it was only his promise that kept him firmly rooted in Britain.

-------------

Sirius and Lupin flooed to Sirius's house, the rest of the Order were already waiting in the basement that was used as the Order's headquarters. Ron, Neville and Hermione were also there

'Sorry we're late' apologised Sirius 'I was with Harry in Hogsmeade'

'You're here now' Mad-Eye said gruffly 'Lets get on with this'

'Is there any proof at all that Harry Potter knows anything' Arthur Weasley questioned

'Only the supposition of Miss Granger' Snape ground out 'I would hardly say that was cause for panic'

'Unless Hermione was right' Tonks joined in 'then she was right to tell us, and for us to discover the truth'

'Harry met with a strange woman today' Sirius said softly drawing the attention of the assembled group

'Strange How?' asked Dumbledore intrigued

'I heard her conversation' Lupin announced 'She did not realise I'm a werewolf'

'What did she say?' Kingsley asked leaning forward

'I only heard the end of the conversation' Lupin admitted 'I was to preoccupied with talking to Sirius'

'Never mind that' Molly Weasley encouraged 'just tell us what you heard'

'I heard' Lupin began 'the woman told Harry that some of the best 'Assassins' were out looking for her'

'Her?' Mundungus spluttered swallowing some whisky 'who's her?'

'I think it's the person who was in Japan' Dumbledore figured 'the one the Blood Slayer ordered Kay and Joe to go and check on'

'They failed then' Neville muttered

'So it would seem' agreed Dumbledore 'Remus, please continue'

'Harry then announced if she hadn't been found in two days he was going after her' Lupin carried on

'What!' Sirius burst out 'did she tell him to stay?'

'No' Lupin said simply 'she said she would except nothing less'

'Oh god' Sirius groaned sinking into a chair 'he'll get himself killed'

'He's been doing this all his life' Mad-Eye interrupted 'he should know how to protect himself'

'What if…' Sirius trailed of uncertainly

'Yes Sirius?' Dumbledore asked

'What if Harry isn't just an Assassin…'

'What if he's the actual Blood Slayer' Dumbledore finished 'I must admit I have had the same suspicions'

'Why would he be here though?' Lupin insisted 'what good would that do?'

'We could ask Kay' Kingsley proposed

'I've tried to get in touch with him' Lupin explained 'but everywhere I try he's not there'

'He's probably in Japan' McGonagall contributed 'this person did tell Mr Potter the best Assassins were there, did she not?'

'Are we sure Harry's the Blood Slayer though' Sirius said desperately trying to see a way around the obvious truth

'I think we can be fairly certain' Madam Pomfrey comforted 'his eyes are extremely sensitive, almost as if they were magnified by a colossal amount'

'He felt really ill after your lesson on vampires' Neville said turning to Lupin

'When we practised the Fanatus spell' Lupin said resigned to the obvious truth 'and his Boggart turned into a vampire'

'He told me that he was taken off the streets when he was a child' Sirius joined in 'by a man who later died as he misjudged a threat'

'The Assassins take children off the streets' Kingsley said thoughtfully 'I suppose it's typical that they found a half vampire there'

'He has excellent reflex's' Ron voiced 'he's been put on the house Quidditch team'

'Are we going to ask him?' Remus asked quietly

'We need proof' Dumbledore said decisively 'we need actual proof that he's the Blood Slayer or we may risk losing a winning asset for the war against Voldemort. Not to mention the son of two people we all held very deep in our hearts'

'We owe it to them' Sirius said standing up 'we owe Lily and James more than we can ever give, helping Harry will help pay that debt'

'I'm with Sirius' Remus said standing next to him 'it's time we started looking out for Harry like we promised there parents'

'We are agreed then' Dumbledore announced 'this remains a secret to the outside world and we all act normally around Harry. The qualified aurors will find the proof and the rest of us will watch Harry'

He looked at the waiting faces 'Meeting dismissed'

-

**All of this is copyright and I own the characters of:**

**All Vampires,**

**All Vampire Assassins,**

**The name and character of the Blood Slayer**

**The Frozen Corpse **

**Plus anyone I forgot to mention who is of my own creation **

**I would love to own Harry Potter but I guess that's just not possible x x **


	11. Social Workers

**Thank you, Thank you, Thank you once again to everyone who has left me reviews and had taken the time to enjoy my work, they are really great. A big shout out and thanks to:**

**SeverusSnapeGirl5690,**

**Fabrielle,**

**hpfreakandproud,**

**angelkitty77,**

**hpnut1,**

**The French Dark Lord,**

**queen of death and vampires,**

**peppymint,**

**-Vandos-Girl-**

**Makurayami Ookami **

**And**

**garrett627**

Chapter Eleven

Tonks and Kingsley entered the Social Services agency with some trepidation, they had phoned in advance (well Tonks had phoned on her Dad's phone while some of the wizards watched nervously) they had booked an appointment with Jennie Fielding who had been in charge of Harry's welfare for a few months before he had run away. This had been discovered by Lupin in his search years before

'Hello' Tonks said politely 'Detectives Drew and Simpson, here to see Ms Fielding'

'Oh yes' the young man at the desk checked the computer 'from the missing children's department, go straight in she waiting for you'

He directed them over to a small partitioned office were a middle aged woman sat looking haggard at a desk, her face had more lines than it had done eleven years ago and she had put on about five stone

'You must be the police' she said gesturing to a couple of worn chairs opposite her desk 'though I don't understand why you'd be wasting your time on the old cases there are plenty of new ones'

'Its policy' Kingsley smiled in a non-threatening way 'it's our job to ascertain if there's any possibility these children can know be located using modern methods'

'Right' Jennie said looking unconvinced 'and you're interested in…' she checked her notes 'Harry James Potter disappeared eleven years ago'

'Yes that's him' Tonks confirmed 'have you got the files we requested'

'Yes, we've got them' she said waving an old folder 'all there is to know about Harry Potter, though to make it quicker I could just tell you myself'

'You remembered him' Kingsley said surprised

'Not in the beginning' the social worker shook her head 'but after I reread his file I dredged it back up, I was his social worker for only a short time'

'Please do' Tonks smiled 'that would be most helpful'

The social worker nodded 'Harry was left at a bus stop when he was about a year old…

-----------

When Harry woke the next morning he was yet again the first up, he had heard Neville and Ron enter the dormitory late the previous evening, well after one in the morning. It was dawn outside and the throbbing in Harry's head had already begun, he administered the eye-drops quickly and pulled on his dark glasses, Harry pulled on a dark grey long sleeved t-shirt underneath his robes and headed out.

He was one of the first out in the main part of the school, Harry only saw one other student in his decent down the stairs and they had looked positively comatose. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the blood pops from Honeyukes, it was as if someone had added about a kilogram of sugar and then stuck it on a stick, the taste was ok though if you weren't adverse to sugar- which Harry wasn't.

Harry exited the castle to enter into the grounds, in the distance he could make out Hagrid's hulking form the half-giant was crating a huge box towards a space by his hut, every so often the box gave a squeal. Harry walked away from the man and went instead towards the lake, when he reached the edge he dropped down and lay back in the grass watching the sky slowly lighten. Once more Harry found himself to be in turmoil, the worry he was feeling for Alyssa seemed to be growing daily and there was nothing he could do until Tuesday night to go and help her

_**Flashback – 2 years ago**_

_Harry circled the girl slowly, both were dressed in simple combat gear and were practicing in an enclosed training room. Each held knives in each hand and each of them grinned in a feral way at the other. _

_The girl was tall and limber with a warm olive complexion, she had long brown hair that had a slight curl to it, it was currently tied at the back of her head in a topknot but a few loose strands framed her pretty heart shaped face._

'_I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born Harry' she laughed never breaking eye contact with the other teen_

'_You wish Llys' Harry replied twirling one of the knives in his hand 'last time you one because of a fluke'_

'_A fluke that you ended up on your ass' smirked Alyssa 'you're just annoyed because I'm one of the few people who can actually beat you nearly every time we fight'_

'_I f you beat me this time I'll make Joe my new sparring partner' Harry promised_

'_I'll let you win with a threat like that' Alyssa smiled 'you'd end up killing each other before either of you remembered it was a training exercise'_

'_Maybe' Harry said lunging forward 'but isn't that part of the fun?' _

_They dodged each other's blows like lightning strikes neither being able to gain the upper hand, the blades glinted as they arced through the air. A fist caught Harry in his jaw, his head snapped backwards and he was momentarily stunned. Alyssa dived towards him in an attempt to beat him, Harry neatly sidestepped and she crashed to the floor as she whipped round to get up Harry launched his own attack and pinned the girl to the floor_

'_Do you yield?' he asked his eyes glinting mischievously _

'_Yes!' Alyssa growled threateningly 'looks like Joe gets saved'_

_Harry's bark of laughter was cut of by a quick knee in his groin_

'_Argh!' he yelped 'that was uncalled for'_

_Ayssa burst out laughing 'what did you expect?' she asked 'my Dad was Rhys!'_

_Harry couldn't help it, her laugh was infectious soon both of them were lying on the shiny floor laughing_

_---------------_

When Harry eventually met up with Ron, Neville and Hermione they were on their way to Charms, when Harry approached them they looked nervous about something and gave each other furtive glances, Harry ignored all three of them unable to be bothered at what the looks had been about.

The day like the lesson dragged on he had sat at the back in a corner, as far away from Professor Flitwick it was possible to get without the leaving the room. The other three had chosen to sit next to him, they were whispering furtively about the Halloween celebrations the next the night

'The whole school's going' Ron whispered 'including the teachers'

'It's supposed to be the best display ever put on by the Majica company' Neville muttered 'do you know what time it starts?'

'It starts at eight' Hermione answered levitating a bookcase across the classroom and narrowly missing a floating desk 'are you going to go Harry?'

'Sorry what?' Harry asked coming out of his trance

'Are you going to the Halloween display?' Hermione repeated, all three of them watched Harry closely, this left Harry in no doubt that they actually knew something, though what they knew remained to be seen

'Maybe' Harry replied vaguely, he actually intended to leave Hogwarts as soon as possible the following evening 'though I might stay in the castle

Neville and Ron both nodded in understanding and Hermione looked slightly suspicious but she didn't say anything. Harry was saved from having to say anything else by the teacher who called

'Message for Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom' he called over the noise of the classroom 'you're to go to Professor McGonagall's office immediately and you're take your belongings'

The three quickly stood in suppressed excitement, this could only mean one thing –the aurors had found proof about Harry. Trying to look natural they muttered goodbye's to Harry before exiting the classroom.

Harry watched them go without interest, one thing he wasn't was stupid and there was

definitely something odd about what was going on. Harry could feel the thoughts whirring in his mind as he considered his options, there weren't that many

-------------

Ron, Neville and Hermione climbed out a grate at Sirius's house closely followed by Remus and Sirius who both dusted themselves off briskly

'Hi guys' Remus smiled 'looking forward to finally finding out the truth?'

'I know I am' Sirius said walking towards the room everyone else had congregated in 'is my Godson a trained vampire killer, or not'

'I guess it's a conversation opener' Remus said smiling slightly and causing Sirius to give a bark of laughter in response

The five of them entered the room and took up seats near the front. Dumbledore was positioned at the very front deep in conversation with Tonks and Kingsley he looked up when he saw them enter and nodded discretely to Sirius and Lupin who each nodded back in understanding

Dumbledore clapped his hands together loudly 'If everyone would please take their seats' he called over the murmur of voices, people immediately quietened and faced Dumbledore 'we will bee able to tell you the information we were able to discover'

Tonks and Kingsley stepped forward to face the group and Kingsley spoke first

'We have definite proof that Harry Potter is no doubt the Blood Slayer'

'His social worker at the time was able to shed enough light on the situation' Tonks added

'Well get on and tell us' Mad-Eye growled irritably

'Right' Tonks hastened 'according to Jennie Fielding Harry was found at a bus stop when he was about a year old'

'Where those Bloody relatives abandoned him' snarled Sirius

'He was passed from foster home to foster home' Kingsley continued 'reports said he was a happy child but sometimes did things that weren't 'normal''

'Like accidental magic?' Lupin asked

'We suspect so' Tonks answered 'he made all his food disappear on one occasion, the terrified muggles handed him straight back to the children's home'

A murderous look had fixed itself on Sirius's face and he was having a hard time concealing his anger, Lupin looked at him with understanding knowing what his friend was going through

'Then what?' he asked not really wanting the truth

'He was sent to live with Simon and Megan Armsten' Kinglsey carried on but he was interrupted again by Sirius

'Harry said he was an absolute Bastard' Sirius said with forced calm 'what exactly did he do to my Godson?'

'Harry was five at the time' Tonks informed the Order 'social workers reported suspected abuse by the male but no further action was taken'

'What happened to them' Lupin asked fitting two and two together 'Harry told Sirius that his boggart was Simon, and he told the boggart he didn't fear him when he was dead'

'His throat was ripped out' Neville said drawing attention 'that's what the boggart said 'You fear what killed me! What you watched rip my throat out' so I'm guessing what happened caused the death of the man and turned Harry into a half-vamp'

'That's our idea' confirmed Kingsley 'reports from the time said that on arrival o the residence, officers found the bodies of Simon and Megan Armsten outside in the back garden both had been slaughtered and their blood drained'

'A vampire' Arthur Weasley interjected 'most probably who also attacked Harry'

'Yes' Tonks spoke 'they found Harry in the garden as well, he was so badly injured they thought he would die, he remained in a coma for two months'

Sirius and Lupin both felt similar amounts of pain, anger and sorrow wash over them at the obvious failure they had done

'What happened next?' Dumbledore asked softly

'When Harry woke up he remained at the hospital for a few weeks but the nurses insisted he should leave as soon as possible' Kingsley informed the group 'they said he was a bad influence on the other children'

'What?' Remus burst out with 'how could a five year old recovering from a violent attack be a bad influence?'

'Evidence suggests he wasn't treated well' Tonks said sadly 'after that he was placed in a children's home, a year later this woman turned up as his social worker, instead of telling you her account I expect it would be more truthful if we show you'

Releasing the memory on the wall the members of the Order watched enraptured

_A smiling woman identified as 'Jennie' entered the sterile heartless conditions of the children home, laughter could be heard in the distance as children played. A squat plump woman with a stern expression and a faint moustache greeted her at the door_

'_You must be Jennie I'm Ms Fell' she smiled slightly 'the boy's in the play room, its this way'_

Sirius felt a renewed burst of anger as they talked about Harry like he was a just an object

_Jennie entered the play room and looked around for Harry_

'_He's over there' pointed Ms Fell 'hiding in the shadows as normal'_

_Jennie walked over slowly to Harry and crouched down beside him, the boy was so small he seemed almost doll like, his green eyes shone out like hug orbs on his small face, his hair hung messily around his head as if no-one could be bothered to take care of it. As Jennie looked Harry in the eye he hunched down further into the corners and bit his lip nervously, scars were still visible on his neck and scratched acroos it harshly _

'_Hello Harry' Jennie smiled 'I'm Jennie, I'm going to be making sure you're okay'_

_When Harry did nothing she looked slightly disappointed and got back up off the floor_

Sirius desperately wanted to hold the small child in his arms he looked so frail and scared it seemed impossible that he had turned into the Harry he knew, the Harry so sure of himself

'_He's an odd one' Ms Fell whispered vindictively shaking her head towards Harry, the boy stiffened slightly and turned his head to the conversation _

'He can hear them' Molly Weasley said aghast 'he can hear every word coming out of that woman's mouth!'

'_Ever since he came here he does strange things' continued Ms Fell oblivious to the way Harry was watching them _

'_What kinds of things?' asked Jennie interested in getting some gossip form the other lady_

'_Like last month' Ms Fell said quietly obviously enjoying her storytelling mode 'one of the kittens was killed'_

'_What's strange about that?' Jennie muttered her interest growing _

'_He killed it' Ms Fell gestured with her head 'sucked the blood out of it one afternoon, said he was hungry, he's not normal'_

A look of horror and upset crossed Harry's young features which made Sirius's heart ache

'_Why would he be hungry? You provide food' Jennie replied unnerved by the boy_

'_He ate when he came here about a year ago' Ms Fell murmured 'he started eating less and less and being sick more and more until now he just eats soup'_

'_Has it affected his health?' Jennie asked with fake concern_

'He's different to the other children' Ms Fell replied 'I think its got something to do with him seeing his foster parents being killed, he was hurt in the attack and for a while they thought he was going to die'

'_Maybe it would have been better if he had' Jennie said viciously she glanced back at Harry _

She never noticed the small tear running down his small features or the look of pain on his face. The memory cut out leaving everyone staring at it shocked

'That's all' Kingsley talked into the silence 'that night Harry ran away, not to be seen for ten years in Britain until he came to Hogwarts'

-------------

Harry entered the Defence against the Dark Arts classroom just after lunch, Neville, Hermione and Ron were still missing. Instead of either Sirius or Remus standing at the front, Snape waited watching as the class filed in. He glared coldly as everyone took their seats, Harry once again sat at the back.

'I am covering this lesson due to unforeseen circumstances' was the only explanation he offered 'get your books out today we are revising the unforgivable's, lets hope two months off hasn't rotted you brains'

--

Harry escaped from the classroom as soon as possible receiving a dark look from Malfoy, but this time the other boy kept his distance content with angry mutterings to his friends. Harry ignored the group of Slytherins and headed instead the Entrance Hall, as he walked he heard someone calling his name turning he saw Neville, Ron and Hermione exiting McGonagall's office. They hurried over to him all three with fake smiles of brightness plastered over their faces

'Are you going to dinner?' Ron asked slightly nervously

'I don't think so' Harry replied just wanting an excuse to leave

'Oh come on' pleaded Neville 'you never come to dinner it'll be fun'

'Fun' Harry repeated sceptically 'I'm not sure if dinner can be described as fun'

'It is' Hermione smiled 'you just never noticed it before'

Harry returned her smile trying so summon up some enthusiasm, he could tell he wasn't getting away with it that easily. He didn't know how he was going to fake eating, though he supposed he could always wing it.

------

That Night in the Keep of Lord Riyak

Riyak bent over the frail figure on the floor, her blood was flicked across the floor and her life force was dwindling. Yet she stared at Riyak with murderous rage openly present on her face

'Hello little Assassin' he goaded 'looks like you haven't been rescued yet, they must have forgotten about you. Are you scared little girl here in the darkness?'

Alyssa spat at his feet in response, he swung his foot back and smashed into her mouth, her head flipped back with the force and more blood dropped to the floor

'Manner's' he said calmly 'but we don't need you anymore'

Her eyes widened in surprise as she realised the implications of his statement

'No' she whispered

'Oh yes' sneered the vampire 'your precious Blood Slayer was seen as he killed three of my subordinates. He must be losing his touch as he never noticed when he was followed back to Hogsmeade, he was to worried about his little Assasssin friend'

Alyssa's heart thudded in fear 'you'll never find him' she promised

'I already have' he jeered 'didn't you know? Hogsmeade is right next to a school called Hogwarts. Guess I'll be paying them a visit'


	12. URGENT MESSAGE THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER!

Bad news- I have badly broken my arm and I am discovering it is extremely painful to type. Therefore I am taking a month off from writing. I will continue in the end of November

I AM NOT STOPPING WRITING PERMENANTLY AND THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED AND FINISHED IN DUE COURSE!

Thank you to EVERYONE! Who has reviewed my work.

Please keep a look out in a month and I promise there will be a new chapter

Love SpikyStar x x


	13. Halloween

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Chapter Twelve

Harry circled the outside of the castle restlessly, it was well past midnight and his mind had yet to switch off. No matter how he tried to figure it out he had no idea where to start looking for Riyak's keep, or more formally known as:

_Ẫỷểẁớự Ỉηίκ_

The keep was protected by powerful magic, magic so old that was not even magic anymore, it held the power to keep any unwanted presence far away unless they knew the 'exact' location. In a vain attempt to see if he had missed anything Harry decided to do some more research in the library away from the prying eyes of any of the residents of Hogwarts. Harry rushed to the Gryffindor common room, it was deserted due to the late hour. Entering the dormitory snores fell on his ears, he quietly stole to his trunk and pulled out his keys, he inserted it into the first lock and opened the lid.

His extensive collection of books varied from recently published studies on the vampire community to ancient books some well over five hundred years old with further information aiding the vampire hunters. Harry pulled about eight of his favourite books out of the compartment and piled them up in his arms, without waking anyone Harry backed out of the room and headed back down the Grand Staircase towards the library.

The rest of the castle lay in darkness, there was no-one around in the shadowy corridors, the paintings occupants slept quietly ignoring Harry's presence. His eyes adjusted to the gloom in an instant the doors of the library were locked and closed, Harry stepped up to them and silently cast

'Alohamora'

The lock clicked open and Harry stepped inside, he headed over to a table closest to the restricted section and dropped the books on the table. He walked to the grate keeping any trespassers out. Harry pulled the door open and searched for the relevant subdivision that housed the vampire section. Five or six books stood in front of him their spines withered with age and use. Harry pulled them off the shelf and put them next to his own. Settling down in the chair he pulled out some parchment and quills and set them on the table, pulling open the book closest to him he searched for references in the old text for the traditional resting places of vampires, barely noticing the language change from English to Gothsad (the language of the Dark) he picked up a quill and started scribbling away

--------

An aching head signalled the coming dawn and Harry glanced up from his work, the task had consumed him so much he had failed to notice time passing. Harry felt as wide awake as he had done the previous night, his record for the longest time managed to stay awake stood at eight and a half days –though he hadn't exerted much energy which had obviously helped.

Reluctant to abandon his work, Harry reviewed what he had done so far. He had revised the habits of vampires (like he'd needed to!) he had not learnt anything immensely helpful in his search for answers. In fact, all Harry had felt he'd done was waste precious time that could have been used elsewhere- on what though, Harry was at a loss.

Grudgingly Harry gathered up the library books and stacked them back on the shelves he then pulled his notes together and pushed them into his bag, swinging it onto his shoulder he grabbed his own books in one arm and left the library quickly, annoyed that he was no closer to helping Alyssa than he had been five hours ago.

-------

Sirius came out of his office to come face to face with Harry, he looked deeply worried about something his face was set in a frown, his long hair hung messily around his face having had hands run through it a few to many times. His eyes though were for once not hidden behind dark glasses, instead they were wide and sparkling emerald and had a depth of knowledge to them, they stood out dramatically from his pale skin.

He hadn't noticed Sirius at first so transfixed in his own thoughts

'Morning Harry' Sirius said cheerfully

Harry's head jerked up as he spotted Sirius and he very nearly dropped the stack of books clasped in his arms, they were more like tombstones than actual manuscripts the thickness and age of the volumes was obvious. Harry raised them slightly obscuring the titles from Sirius before retuning the smile

'Morning Sirius' he replied quietly 'you're up early'

'So are you' retorted Sirius, he was still smiling but he knew what Harry was worrying about Alyssa and what the vampires might be doing to her. 'Looking forward to the Quidditch match?'

'Quidditch match?' Harry repeated confused 'what match?'

'It was put on the notice board last night' Sirius answered 'Gryffindor verses Slytherin in a fortnight'

'Oh right' Harry said distracted 'that match, yeh I'm excited'

'Are you okay?' Sirius asked knowing full well what the problem was but he couldn't think how he could help

'I'm fine' reassured Harry stepping around Sirius 'I just have to get my stuff ready for today'

Sirius nodded and started to walk in the opposite direction before pausing to turn back to Harry

'If you need any help' he looked straight into Harry's eyes and saw Lily reflected back out 'you can always ask me' he finished sincerely

'Thanks' Harry looked less bothered 'I really appreciate it, but no offence I doubt you have the means to help with some of my problems'

Sirius looked at Harry closely 'you never what means I could come up with'

'I'll bare that in mind' Harry he looked thoughtful 'this whole Godfather, Godson thing is strange, but I kinda like it'

Sirius's face broke into a wide grin 'we're useful to have around' he joked

------

Harry missed first lesson that day, when the rest of his year was holed up in potions Harry was sorting through his trunk. Between the travel from Finland to Britain he had lost his favourite dagger, having a four compartment trunk could definitely be an annoyance sometimes, he did try and keep some order to the case however occasionally he put something back in the wrong section. At the moment he had strewn his clothes over the floor and was pawing through the pockets looking for his knife and its sheath

'Ah ha!' he shouted out loud into the quiet pulling the dagger out a cloak pocket 'how did you get there?'

The answer was of course the last mission he had gone on before his departure of the country, his last mission with Alyssa… Harry forced the memory of her face out of his head, it would do neither of them any good if he got hung up before he even set out looking for her. Harry gathered up the clothes and dumped them back in the trunk, clicking his fingers the clothed made a half hearted attempt to get into order before falling listlessly back down. Harry frowned at the mess not really taking it in, he slammed the lid closed and slotted the fourth key into the trunk, it sprung open immediately his weapons all aligning themselves on small racks in the interior of the case. The base of the compartment housed the larger weapons such as his bow and arrows (which were coated in Holy and garlic water- made a stinging concoction) there was also a hurling axe, two swords and a wooden spear.

Next to the weapons was a shiny black metal box, Harry pulled the lid of and surveyed the weapon within- a gun. Its bullets were of the highest silver concentration and packed a hell of a punch, the weapon itself was also black, it was the same size as his hand with a wicked gleam to it. Harry picked it up carefully and looked at it closely, inscribed on the side was the message

_Harry, its time to move with the times, I know a bullet won't kill of a vamp, but it just might keep you alive that little bit longer. Love Alyssa x _

Harry bit his lip hard when a choke came to his throat, he forced it back down. Vampires couldn't be killed if they were hit with a bullet but they could sure as hell scream, a silver Holy water coated bullet caused a good distraction when a hungry vamp was looking for dinner. He hadn't used the gun for months, but he knew without looking how to hit a target. As much as wizards regarded muggle weapons with open cynicism they came in damn useful sometimes especially when your attacker isn't exactly fazed by a wand. Weapon training was compulsory at Hanskida and that included guns, everything from handguns to anti-tank missiles.

Harry spent the next few hours of undisturbed peace to check the condition of all his weapons, making sure they were oiled and stocked. When Harry had selected all the weapons he wished to take on his mission that night and laid them out his bed, there were five regular silver knives, eight throwing silver knives, four stakes, ten Holy water bombs and the sword he got from Rhys. The gun lay next to the pile gleaming dangerously, Harry placed the crossbow beside the gun and inserted an arrow bolt into the catch. Lifting the implement up Harry pointed it at the wall and fired, the arrow imbedded hard into the wall with a thud and it stuck there quivering

Harry gazed at it for a few moments before watching it vibrate, suddenly Harry heard footsteps walking up the stairs to the dorm room. Harry grabbed the weapons from his bed he intended to use and shoved them haphazardly into the second compartment of his trunk, slamming the lid shut he locked it quickly and turned just as the door burst open. Neville and Ron rushed in stopping at the sight of Harry

'Where have you been all day' Ron asked suspiciously 'you missed every lesson'

'I didn't feel well' lied Harry 'I've gotta go bye'

He swept out of the room not even giving a backward glance to the concerned lads

'What was all that about?' Neville muttered to Ron frowning

'Maybe it got something to do with that arrow sticking out of the wall' replied Ron walking over and wrenching it out 'do you reckon we should keep it?'

--------

It was early evening and the whole school was buzzing with the excitement of Halloween, in every corridor there were pumpkins and candles. It was the Halloween and celebrations were happening outside off the school. Students had to get permission from their parents to attend, and nearly the entire school had been given consent.

Professors Sprout and Flitwick had all of the first and second years in the greenhouses carving out pumpkins by hand, the air was filled with laughing children and screams of enjoyment as pips were thrown across the hothouses.

Lupin and Sirius had the Third and Fourth years on the third floor doing a Halloween treasure hunt that encompassed the entire floor and had suits of armour transfigured into mummy's wandering about and chasing the students as they hunted for clues

Professor Snape was doing manipulation portions in the dungeon- the effects of which caused the drinker to take the form of any Halloween creature for up to five seconds. Apart from the Snape's usual attitude, the fifth years managed to have a good time

Professor McGonagall was with the sixth years (apart from Harry) transfiguring pots into black cats and toads and a whole other hoard of animals that were associated the pagan festival.

The seventh years were exploring the Forbidden Forest- though any weren't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

Harry paced around the school restlessly waiting for the sun to drop and the school get ready to walk to Hogsmeade. Every time he looked out of a window the sun seemed exactly has it had been when he had last looked

'Harry' came a voice from behind him and Harry spun around caught off guard, Dumbledore stood at the end of the hall resplendent in deep blue swirling robes

'Headmaster' Harry replied 'can I help you with something?'

Dumbledore walked quickly towards Harry 'I was hoping I could talk to you'

'About what?' Harry asked suspiciously

'The lack of your Halloween consent form' Dumbledore answered 'you have not got permission to leave the school tonight without it'

'I don't plan on going to the Halloween bonfire' Harry responded 'I was going to entertain myself'

Dumbledore looked closely at Harry 'we will leave you and the others not going in the capable hands of Professor Tralawny'

'The one that's slightly…odd' Harry said casting his mind to the half crazed witch

'Yes' Dumbledore twinkled 'Sirius wanted to stay and keep you company but I managed to persuade him to take an evening away from the school'

Harry watched the headmaster warily, if they knew something why did they leave the door wide open for him 'that was a good idea' Harry said eventually 'fireworks are always…interesting'

'That is one thing they are' Dumbledore smiled 'and I must admit I am myself looking forward to the display it had been a long time since I saw a bonfire, I neglected to attend the last few years'

'I have to go Sir' Harry said steeping away slightly from Dumbledore 'I have some homework to finish'

'Off you go then' Dumbledore acknowledged

Harry strode off quickly his mind in a whirring mess

Sirius came around the opposite end of the corridor and headed straight for the head 'are you sure this is a good idea' he asked nervously

'I wish it wasn't' Dumbledore admitted 'but we cannot stop Harry doing something he promised to do, for someone he cares for. If we tried to stop him the only thing we would succeed in doing is pushing him away'

'I just wish their was another way' Sirius said miserably 'I have a definite feeling something is going to wrong tonight'

----------

At eight that evening the Entrance Hall was filled with pupils and teachers, they were wrapped up warm against the chill of the outside.

Ron hurried over to Neville and Hermione

'Hey guys' he greeted them 'don't suppose you've seen Harry?'

'He wasn't anywhere we looked' Neville replied pulling his scarf tighter 'and we looked all over the main castle'

'Dumbledore must know what he's doing' Hermione said her face worried 'he must be waiting for a good opportunity to approach him'

'He didn't go to McGonagall's lesson' Ron said glancing around the hall as if expecting Harry to appear 'I hope he's ok'

'I doubt he's 'ok'' Hermione said copying Ron 'would you be ok growing up like that'

'I don't know' Ron answered 'I never had to'

---------

From the top of the astronomy tower Harry stood watching the students pour out of the main doors, they went in year groups with the first and second years taking the lead swinging their lighted pumpkins following the figure of Dumbledore. When the last student had exited the school and the large doors had slammed shut on the golden glow of light, Harry strode to the steps of the tower and descended the steep steps.

It was easy to avoid the few students that littered the castle, entering his dormitory Harry went straight to the trunk, as he walked he pulled off his clothes. Inserting the second lock Harry thrust the kid open and chose his clothes:

Thick black jeans- the strongest thickness, so if he ended up against anything sharp his legs would be protected

Black motorbike boots –they were his favourite pair, they had good grip and were flexible when it came to running. They added extra protection to his legs especially his Achilles heel which vampire's had a tendency to aim for, they were as well waterproof and came complete with the daggers in the heels

A black hoodie kept some of the cold out while at the same time didn't restrict him.

Harry slotted a thick belt through the hooks on his jeans attaching sheaths along the way. Into the rims of the boots Harry placed more sheaths as well as a sword sheath that ran down his back.

Harry placed knives in every imaginable place as well as in the sheaths. There were wrist holsters containing more daggers and a spare wand. The hurling axe hung from his waist along with the holstered gun. Harry put a thick hooded cloak over the top concealing the glints from weapons and slung the crossbow from his shoulder. He tied his hair safely back and glancing upwards at the ceiling he prayed he would get to Alyssa on time

----------

The crowd of people Ooed and Aaed as the fireworks exploded into the air, they flew through the sky dancing with each other as colour rippled through the night. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, the stalls were doing a roaring success selling hot drinks, sweets and mementos to anyone who wanted to buy them

'This is Bloody Excellent!' swore Ron excitedly 'did you see that rocket?'

'I was watching the Catherine wheel' Hermione shouted back her own face glowing with enthusiasm

'Shit!' Neville laughed 'can you see that firecracker chasing Dean?

'OOooh!' Hermione smiled nudging the two lads and pointed 'they're lighting the bonfire'

A wizard leaned across with a flaming torch towards the dryness of the stacked wood

'THREE!' screamed the crowd

'TWO!'

'On…'

The multitude of people wavered off uncertainly as fear took a new holding. A swirling black and grey circle hovered in front of the unlit bonfire, the icy wind whipped through the still crowd as they watched in dread. The teachers slowly edged the crowd back positioning themselves in front of the vulnerable students. They watched in absolute silence as the circle grew and grew until it was at least two metres wide and tall. Out of the swirling vortex came a tall man, who looked as if he had grown to a large height and then had been forced into the skin of someone much smaller. He had a sage green tunic on with slim fitting black trousers and boots beneath, the clothes seemed totally inappropriate for the weather, his brown hair was styled in Tudor fashion. The man looked at the crowd, who all watched back, he gave a smiled that began with a slight twitching of his lips but spread across his entire face in a slow movement. They all instinctively held their breaths, the man looked fairly harmless but he had an aura of evil surrounding him. The man laughed a cold humourless sound and this time everyone got a glimpse of the white fangs.

'ONE!' the vampire finished grabbing the torch from the stunned wizard, he threw it behind him igniting the flames. He grasped the petrified man and barely pausing he ripped his throat out in one swipe

Screams came from the audience and most people pulled their wands out brandishing them in front like swords

Neville stared transfixed at the man a memory burst into his head and he gasped out loud

'What's the matter?' whispered Ron urgently

'That's the Lord of the Vampires' Neville answered horror filling him

Ron and Hermione stared at the vampire, almost immediately there was a change in the vortex. Out of the churning centre emerged more vampires, men and women, some dressed in elegant finery, others in modern clothing and others were clothed in rags and dried blood. They spread out slowly encircling the perimeter of the field baring their fangs to the moonlight

'I am Riyak' spoke the head vampire 'Lord of the Vampires'

He paused a moment to survey the crowd with glowing crimson eyes

'And if the Blood Slayer doesn't reveal himself soon, we are going to have some fun of our own'


	14. Riyak

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Chapter Thirteen

'This is going to hell in a hand basket' Sirius muttered nervously 'how are we going to keep the students safe'

'Maybe helps coming' Lupin said anxiously 'maybe someone got away and went to the ministry'

'Somehow I doubt that' Sirius replied fear fixing a fist of frost deep inside him 'and vampy boy is getting restless

This was true, Riyak kept searching the crowd with his eyes but he couldn't pick out the Blood Slayer

'Time's up!' he shouted to gasps of horror 'ATTACK!'

------------

Harry thrust the window open and after climbing out onto the shelf he paused for a moment before jumping off the ledge and the Gryffindor Tower. He hit the ground running and sprinted across the grass in a blur of blackness. He took the route he had previously taken when leaving the castle and jumped over the gate in a fraction of the time it had taken him before. Harry pulled the hood up to his cloak and ran towards Hogsmeade

Screaming caught his ears as well as his breath as he halted on the dusty path straining to hear what was happening. Another scream came then another until all he could hear were screams that filled the night air with terror. Harry decided instantly what to do and ran in the direction of the bonfire

-----

The vampires started to rush forward with fangs arching out of their mouths desperate for blood. The wizards and witches that knew what they were doing instinctively positioned themselves in front of the children. Many of the first and second years were crying openly in panic. Lupin and Sirius raised their wands as the nearest vampires came closer. Hermione, Neville and Ron cast their minds back to the lesson on vampires

'FANATUS!' boomed Dumbledore repelling a grungy vampire who was trying to get closer to the younger children

The field was filled with the sounds of people echoing the spell, a white mist descended on the crowd forcing some of the weaker vampires back. However the stronger ones kept coming, one reached out and slowly swiped at the mist as if brushing a cobweb away. When the barrier faltered the vampire licked its thin lips and began peeling parts of the mist away

'He's getting through!' McGonagall shouted 'we need to alert the aurors to help us'

'Can't apperate and hold the barrier at the same time' Snape bellowed back 'if any of us were to weaken the spell they would be on us!'

'THWAK!' an arrow thudded into the back of the vampire who was making the most headway with the barrier. He let out a piercing shriek and clawed desperately at his back trying to reach the arrow, a second later a second arrow hit the vampire dead on target and turned him to dust. The vampires all turned away from the barrier and roamed the landscape with their eyes to see where the arrow had come from

'THWAK! THWAK! THWACK!' three more arrows came shooting through the air, they each hit a vampire. The creatures barely had time to blink before they were reduced to ash

'RIYAK!' screamed a voice

Everyone turned in the direction of the shout. On the wooden platform next to the burning bonfire a dark figure stood holding a crossbow, as they watched he dipped the next few arrows into the flames and loaded the burning weapons into the crossbow. The wind picked up a few notches blowing the figures cloak around him like a cape, the next gust tore his hood off. Harry stood their with his smouldering crossbow, his pale skin stood out starkly illuminated by the fire. As the crowd watched aghast a smile curved across his smooth features. He raised the crossbow and slew another vampire with three arrows at once

Gasps flew from the audience as they recognised Harry and the aura of danger he was broadcasting, further shouts and gasps came as Harry extended his fangs, revealing to all his secrets, the audience grew quiet and waited for what would happen next

'I heard you were looking for me!' he called over the silence 'I guess I found you!'

Riyak stormed over to the base of the bonfire and snarled up at Harry

'Are you coming down?' he demanded 'or will I have to make you?'

Harry pulled his communication globe out of his pocket and swinging his arm he pitched it at the crowd at Ron, it passed through the barrier without any trouble. The boy caught it easily through months of practicing catching the quaffle

'Call for help!' Harry shouted 'call Kay!'

As Ron began shouting into the globe desperately trying to get an answer, Harry turned back to the snarling figure of Riyak. Harry reached to his back and pulled the sword free of its scabbard, with the other hand he pulled out the hurling axe, he then ran to the end of the platform and jumped off into the nothingness

Sirius impulsively jerked forward and Harry fell from the raised area, desperate to help his godson. Harry didn't need the help though, he floated down gently through the air as if floating on the wind. He touched down to the ground with a thud and he swung his sword at the Lord of the Vampires who pulled his own sword out from beneath the tunic

Everyone including the vampires watched the display, as soon as the two enemies started fighting they would resume their attack on the crowd. The sound of apperating cracked through the night. Suddenly there were at about eleven witches and wizards standing in the open. They were all dressed in complete black with their own personal arsenals. The members of the Order immediately recognised Kay holding already bloody daggers and Joe who looked like he had already taken place in an earlier battle. There were a number of young people holding weapons, a boy and a girl standing next to each other looked about fourteen, they had long silvery blonde hair and sharp features, obviously brother and sister and they looked excited about what was to come next

'Oh goodie!' the girl exclaimed 'vampires!'

'Brilliant!' agreed the boy 'I have been so bored lately'

Harry felt a wash of relief wash over him. Ron had succeeded in contacting the Assassins they were here, an extra group to stand between the vampires and the children

'KAY!' he yelled not turning around 'make sure the vampires don't get the students!'

'I'm on it!' the man shouted back turning to the Assassins and calling orders to them

-

'Well now you've saved your little friends' Riyak sneered swinging his blade 'you and I have some unfinished business'

'Where is Alyssa?' Harry demanded 'where did you take her?'

'I would say Hell' Riyak responded swiping his blade at Harry who blocked it with quick slash of his own 'but that seems rather stereotypical'

'If you don't tell me I'm going to hurt you as much as possible' Harry promised trying to smash his axe into Riyak's head

'That didn't work out so well for, what was his name? oh yes…Ryhs' taunted Riyak 'I thought of you when I cut his head off, I thought you'd like to know'

Harry gritted his teeth in anger and lunged with his blade

'Don't you dare speak of Rhys!' he snarled

'Sensitive' taunted Riyak 'He's dead what does he care'

'I care!' Harry answered circling Riyak

The two of them jumped at each other. They traded blows that shook the ground around them and reduced each others faces to blood strewn horror's. Riyak managed to get a backhanded punch through Harry's defences, he rocketed backwards and smashed into a stall obliterating it. Sirius and Lupin watched in dismay as Harry pushed himself back up to return to the fighting, their wands shaking with the power that was rushing through them. Riyak moved quickly and instantly appeared at Harry's side as he pushed himself up

'Giving up yet little Blood Slayer?' he mocked

'Not a chance' Harry grunted pushing forward with an attack

A strangled yell came across the now battle field, a vampire had latched itself onto Kay's arm and was sucking hard. Another vampire was holding his other arm stopping Kay from smashing his blade into the vampire feeding on him, her ball gown was spread around her like a lake. Joe was trying desperately to get to Kay to help him but he was to far away and the Assassins that were close by had their own vampires to deal with. Harry took his eyes from Riyak for the split second it took to launch the hurling axe across the field. It smashed into the vampire holding his arm and lodged itself in the skull of the creature, it fell to the ground in a shower of dust, Kay was then able to swing his weapon and remove the vampire feeding on him.

'Harry!' screamed Neville from his vantage point he could see exactly what was about to happen next

Harry spun back to face Riyak but a moment to late, when Harry's attention had been diverted Riyak had stabbed his sword straight into Harry's stomach. The sword went right through with a wet thud. A stillness covered the fighters they stopped moving, everyone stared transfixed at the sword piercing Harry

'No!' moaned Sirius 'tell me no!'

Harry looked down at the hilt of the sword and then back at Riyak's exultant face in shock

'Maybe I'll put your head next to Rhys's' taunted the vampire 'and then I'll add Alyssa's, you can be together dead for eternity, one happy family'

Harry sank to his knees watching the blood drip and then to Riyak

'I have a better plan' he hissed

'What would that be?' Riyak asked unconcerned leaning forward

'This!' Harry snarled, he wrenched the sword out of his middle and thrust it into the stunned vampire, sadly missing his heart

Riyak stumbled backwards trying to pull the blade out, he clicked his fingers and opened another portal

'Retreat!' he gasped 'until next time Blood Slayer'

The swirling mass appeared again and he jumped through still with the sword in his middle. The other vampires still alive flowed to the portal as fast as they could. Harry pushed himself to his feet and gazed at the still open portal

'Don't even think about it!' Kay shouted 'they'll kill you!'

'Only vampires can go through' Harry replied ignoring the blood pouring from his abdomen, he picked his sword up from the floor with a bloody hand 'wish me luck' he called before jumping through

Sirius and Lupin along with some of the Assassins lunged forward to late, the portal closed with a snap leaving only the wreckage of the fight behind

----------

After discerning that there were no vampires left in Hogsmeade the pupils of the school were lead back by the teachers and accompanied by the Vampire Assassins, many of whom seemed unfazed by the vampire attack. They were all however worried about Harry, Kay was barking orders to conceal his anxiety and Joe was choosing to terrorise the students as his method of distraction, screaming 'Vampires!' down the ears of nervous pupils causing them to jump at odd moments

'Knock it off!' Kay eventually shouted making Joe jerk in surprise

'Sheesh! Joe whistled swiping some of the gore off his face 'sorry for having a little fun'

'Now is not exactly the time' Kay replied rubbing his tired eyes and ignoring the blood pouring from his arm, he turned to Dumbledore who was sweeping along the path bedside him, his brow furrowed in thought.

'Harry went through' Kay muttered 'I told him not to and he went through anyway!'

'Why did he go through?' Sirius asked 'What's so important that would make him follow a group of savage vampires while he's injured?'

'Alyssa' Joe answered diving in 'he went in after his sister'

'There is definite proof that she is being held by Lord Riyak?' Dumbledore asked

'It's indisputable' Kay answered 'Riyak ordered the attack on Alyssa with the hope it would draw Harry out'

'Then it worked' Lupin finished tiredly 'Harry went running in, after God knows how many blood suckers!'

----------

Harry landed with a thump as he fell out of the portal, he looked around quickly extending his senses as far as possible in all directions to find any enemies. There were no vampires in the surrounding area which came as a surprise to Harry, he had expected at least a few to be guarding the portal as it closed. Casting around the dark woody landscape Harry detected movement in the corner of his eye, a short way in the distance heading downwards away from Harry were the surviving contingent led by Riyak. They were moving at a fast pace travelling by foot so as to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Harry took a firmer grip on his sword and shifted gingerly on each foot.

Blood was soaking the front of his chest and running down his fighting clothes, he didn't even bother looking at the piercing wound, Harry knew that if he did look at it then it would hurt possibly even more than it did now. The rate of blood loss was worrying though, if he continued to bleed at this rate then his energy would deplete rapidly. Harry swung his sword a couple of times before running after the departing vampires.

He followed them at a distance for at least an hour, Harry could feel a warning tingle in the base of his spine as dawn got closer. The sky was still as black and dark as it had been at the Halloween display but the signs of daybreak were there nevertheless. They had to nearing the resting place of the vampires, no vampire would willingly risk being out so close to sun-up. Harry swept after them descending further into the woods and the dampness that clung to the creaking trees. Ahead of him the convoy suddenly stopped, Harry froze as well and strained his hearing to keep up with what was happening. A voice rang out into the darkness

'_Ẫỷểẁớự Ỉηίκ_'

A loud groan rumbled through the foliage and Harry felt the Earth beneath his feet vibrate as something large was moved at the command of those words. Harry felt a relieved twitch of a smile flicker across his face at the hope of being so close to Alyssa. Harry decided to take the risk of being spotted and edged closer to the where the vampires were. Harry floated up slightly to see over the foliage, just as he got high enough the vibrations came again followed by silence. The aching in his head began to build and the darkness lightened slightly. Harry pulled himself from the air and onto one of the highest tree branches.

In the distance a crater like hole had been carved into the rocky ground, ragged bushes swept the edges of the fissure. Harry squinted his eyes slightly and focused in, hidden in the bushes were figures dressed in green clothes to blend with the woods. Harry studied the bushes and the area around it carefully. There were no figures in the surrounding woodland only in the bushes. Harry counted there to be five, they couldn't be vampires as they wouldn't be able to guard the space during the day. Harry thought of the possibilities in his head, they wouldn't be higher level creatures of neither the dark or light side, the light creatures kept away from the vampires as a matter of principle and intelligence, the higher dark creatures wouldn't deign being ordered around by blood suckers. That meant they had to be lower creatures, either normal humans, which would mean they were only equipped with muggle weapons and basic senses. Or they could also be dark creatures such as werewolves who didn't bother with the arrogance of other dark creatures. There was also the possibility they were dark wizards who had been ordered by Voldemort to stand guard.

It wasn't full moon, so rough werewolves wouldn't be an issue. Harry decided to wait until fully daytime, this would ensure that nearly all the vampires would be comatose until dark, those that managed to stay awake would be very thin on the ground and weakened without the moon's strength behind them. Harry occupied himself for the next couple of hours by padding the hole in his stomach with bandages to stop the streaming amounts of copious blood

---------

The majority of the students had been sent to bed as soon as they had gotten back to the castle, though quite a few of them had been given sleeping draughts from Madam Pomfrey on their return, unable to get the pictures out of their minds. The teachers had congregated in the staffroom with Kay and Joe, the other Assassins had already left as soon as they had seen the pupils safely back. The fireplace was in constant motion with more and more Order members arriving every few minutes.

Neville, Ron and Hermione were also included in the meeting and were waiting anxiously for it to begin.

'Do you think he's ok?' Hermione whispered nervously

'I don't think he's having a ball right now' Ron whispered back

'He got back up' Neville said 'he had a sword go right through him and he got back up!'

'Guess there's not a chance he's not the Blood Slayer now' Ron said glancing over at Sirius and Lupin with Kay who were muttering furiously looking worriedly around at the increasing numbers

'I wonder how he got back up' Hermione said 'it's not like it didn't hurt'

'He blocks it out' a voice answered from behind

The three teenagers swung round to see who had spoken, Joe stood by the wall picking something obscure from between his teeth

'How do you know that?' Neville asked

'I've known Harry for six years' Joe answered 'we don't exactly see eye to eye most of the time but we do train together'

'How does he do it?' Ron said nervously watching the other teen

'He practised from a very early age' Joe replied 'not the most idyllic childhood, but ones like that give skills'

'I suppose that's useful to have' Neville said finally

'It is if your in the middle of a battle' Joe agreed 'but if you block so much pain out you forget how bad the wound is then you can end up nearly killing yourself, you end up looking like a right twat!'

---------

Harry greeted the dawn with more enthusiasm than usual, welcoming the headache it brought instead of cursing it. He jumped silently down from the branch hitting the soggy dirt with a soft thump, weak streams of light filtered down through the leaves above, giving a new appearance to the previously gloomy forest. It had began to rain, a cold drizzle that penetrated even the most waterproof of clothes and helped in turning the already moist soil into wet sludge.

Harry hid his sword back in its sheath and pulled two daggers out from beneath the thick folds of his cloak. Taking a good grip on both blades Harry skulked closer to the crater and the 'things' protecting it, they were still in the positions they had been in earlier, crouched down and hidden from the untrained eye. Harry crept closer to the figures floating a few millimetres off the ground to reduce sound.

The closest shape never moved as Harry got near it, it was human looking, it wasn't picking Harry up so it wasn't a werewolf, that left wizard or a muggle with a weapon. The person shifted and Harry got a glimpse of a wand- wizard, he dove forward quietly and drove his blade into the persons back. The wizard didn't even make a sound as he died, he just closed his eyes and sank back into the mud.

Harry moved quickly onto the next, they were watching the crater as if expecting something to happen, she didn't realise something until Harry was less than a metre from her, she raised her head and took a long sniff from the air the obvious sign of a werewolf. Harry debated what to do for a split second before hurling the silver knife at her neck, it slammed into the soft flesh and drove a gasp from her, she fell backwards a look of shock still plastered on her dead features.

The other three hadn't even noticed anything was happening, they were still focused on the hole. Harry slipped through the bushes and headed round the edge of the hollow, the next person was another wizard he was an extremely nervous wizard who was jittering slightly and clutching his wand like a lifeline. Harry felt himself smile, there was no one better to kill than someone who was jumpy. Sneaking closer Harry was able to get right behind the wizard without him noticing, reaching up Harry grabbed his head and gave it a sharp twist, the snapping of bone had a certain satisfying edge to it.

Harry edged closer to yet another guard, he was undoubtedly a werewolf, he was sniffing the air every few seconds to try and pick up an unregistered scent. Harry looked down at his bloody chest and bit his lip in realisation as the werewolf took another sniff and then suddenly stopped. Harry hurled himself forward revealing himself to the werewolf and the guard still left alive.

The werewolf jumped upwards and began to pull at something in its belt, Harry hurled the knife in his other hand. The knife slammed hard into the werewolves chest and slammed it to the ground with a crash. The last guard yanked a gun out of his jacket and swung the Uzi towards Harry and opened fire.

Harry lunged into the undergrowth and pulled his own gun out, landing on his back the bullets rippled over his head and smashed into a tree. Harry pulled back the hammer on his weapon and hit the trigger of his gun, the bullet smacked hard into a moving object and the object fell in a heap on the floor not moving. Harry pushed himself up cautiously and went over to the last guard. The man was spread-eagled on his back his eyes glazed over and blank, the Uzi was still hanging from his limp hand. Harry grimaced at the sight and brushed some of the mud off his cloak.

'Always go for the muggle first' he reminded himself putting the gun back in its holster

Turning to the crater he leaned nervously over the edge and repeated the words

'_Ẫỷểẁớự Ỉηίκ_'

The crater started to vibrate and bits of earth fell from the sides, the stone base split open directly in the middle and the two halves slid heavily back into the darkness beneath. Out of the shadows a stone staircase rose, it creaked upwards until it met the rim of the now open crater.

Harry took one last look at the bright day before taking a deep breath and descending the flight of steps heading into the sinister gloominess of Riyal's Keep.


	15. Alyssa

**Here I am again thanking you for reading and reviewing my story- and I enjoy it more and more every time. I hope you get the enjoyment from reading them as I get from writing them**

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**Friesian Lover5690,**

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Chapter Fourteen

Harry tentatively stole down the slippery steps, his eyes adjusting all the while to the decreasing levels of light. The stairs wound down in a tight spiral with the middle a blank void of dark space. Harry stepped carefully and silently, there was the very real possibility that a few vampires had yet to retire and the risk of running into them was great. Harry dug his blunt teeth tensely into his lip as he strained for any close sounds, the air was getter clammier with each footstep down and Harry looked worriedly back at the stairs behind him wondering exactly how he was going to manage getting Alyssa back up.

The flight of stairs came to an end soon enough, the stone attached to stone flooring belonging to a dimly lit atrium with one closed thick wooden door. The echo of the opening above him snapping closed reverberated to where Harry stood, the murky gloom vanished to leave only blackness. Harry took another deep breath and cautiously edged the door open with one hand, the wood scraped across the rough flooring with a screech that froze Harry instantly. Listening hard Harry concentrated on the door and the unknown behind it, streams of weak light trickled through the open crack. When no sound came back to him Harry continued to press on the door trying to ignore the squeals it gave in protest.

When the door was open wide enough Harry slipped through the gap and stepped into the hall behind it. This was the first sign of any life in the cave, flaming torches were suspended on the coarse walls of the narrow passage emitting the light that leaked along the hallway, also hanging from the walls were the skeletons of previous victims of the vampires long tirade. Harry slid down the passage careful to keep to the limited shadows, even though if any vampire did choose to walk down the corridor they would see him instantly.

At the end of the corridor was a low archway, through the arch was another corridor, it branched off in two directions. Harry looked closely at both routes, they both looked the same however one undoubtedly led to Alyssa. Harry gritted his teeth in frustration and pulled his wand out of his pocket, placing it on his palm he whispered softly to it

'Point me to Llys'

The wand spun round madly on his palm before swivelling towards the left. Harry's heart leapt slightly at this action, whatever else it meant was unnecessary because she was alive! Harry was momentarily overjoyed by the thought allowing himself to reflect on just how scared he actually was that Alyssa may have already perished. Getting a grip on himself Harry shrugged his shoulders to let out some of the tension before quickly hurrying left.

The corridor soon ended to another closed thick wooden door. Harry pushed on the handle but the door stayed firmly locked, hissing slightly in annoyance Harry waved his hand over the large handle and waited to hear the click of the lock opening

--------

Assembled in the staffroom the teachers, members of the ministry and the Assassins all talked furiously

'We should have fought them' Sirius said miserably 'I mean come on all we did was create a pretty barrier between us and them'

'I see how that would have helped' Snape snapped acerbically 'we all start fighting the vampires leaving the students to protect themselves'

'I'm afraid I have to agree with Severus' Lupin admitted 'though we had the capability to fight, many more lives would have been lost if we had not chosen to form a barrier'

'What I fail to understand' protested Fudge 'is why one of your students had such a condition and it was never revealed to us'

'And how exactly would you have treated the matter?' Sirius demanded 'lock him up at the ministry? Or maybe you'd have preferred to outcast him?'

'We would have done no such thing' protested Fudge 'he would have had the same rights as anyone else!'

'The same rights as werewolves?' Lupin suggested lightly, stopping Fudge's objections in their tracks 'I always appreciate how difficult the ministry has made my life'

'We do what is necessary in order to protect the community' Fudge said sweating slightly 'we remove risks from the population'

'Yet it is illegal to discriminate' Dumbledore said softly 'if I had told you about Harry then you would have insisted on making it public knowledge, which would not only have endangered Harry, but the wizarding community as well'

'So you took it upon yourself to conceal the truth' Fudge blustered

'Cornelius please' Dumbledore said quietly 'now is not the time for blame but the time to join with others and work out exactly what our next step is going to be'

'We need to get out there' Kay interrupted 'Joe and I will search some of the well known vampire hideouts'

'But the thing is' joined in Joe 'is that we don't even know what country they teleported to'

'Can you find out' Sirius asked pensively staring from Joe to Kay

'We've been looking for Riyak's Keep for about seventy years' Kay said dejectedly 'I doubt by even doubling the efforts now, that we would find it'

'He may have been an idiot for going through' Joe added 'but it was the only chance we would've gotten to get even slightly close'

'So if he makes it back alive we'll all be better off!' Lupin said disbelievingly

'If he makes it back' Snape said silkily ignoring the murderous looks he got from all present 'what? I'm only stating the facts'

---------

The door swung open to reveal another circling staircase heading further into the gloom. Small crannies had been hollowed out in the wall space next to the stairs, in each crevice a white skull sat with lit candle coming out of its mouth, wax dribbled down the mouth of the skull drying on the cold rock beneath. Harry crept down the stairs and noticed the air growing ever more stagnant.

The staircase ended at a large cavern, it was rectangular and long. There was a large walking space in the middle and on either side metal bars created prison cells at least twenty of them. Sniffing the air Harry immediately caught the scent of old blood that hung like a rancid cloak. More torches graced the walls and at the far end of the cavern a sleeping vampire was hunched against the wall keeping guard. A grin split across Harry's face and he dashed forward with a stake.

He covered the long distance in a few seconds. The vampire had time only to crack one eye open before Harry slammed the stake into its chest. This small noise had woken some of the cells occupants, they crawled to the cages doors and gazed limply out. They all looked the same with long lank greasy hair and the pale skin of people who hadn't seen the sun in a while. There were about three to a cage and they all whimpered

'Bite, bite me!'

Harry grimaced at the sight, they were obviously Fang Bangers who had given up any chance of life and had instead chosen to be the food and play things of vampires. Harry ignored them and crept back along the dungeon paying no attention to the remains of some of the now deceased former dwellers. Some were being kept against their will but Harry didn't help them, having eyes for only one.

He found her in a cell near the middle, Harry recognised her smell instantly concentrating on the bar door he blasted it clean off, he stopped it just before it crashed to the floor and after lowering it the grubby floor he entered the cell.

She was half slumped on the floor, chained to the wall her bare arms tied above her, blood was thick on her wrists were she had struggled at first. Her head was hanging down and her limp hair hung lifelessly covering her face. Her clothes were ripped and dirty with no resemblance to what they had formally been, blood also stained the fabric and it was this which angered Harry the most.

He dashed over to her and lifted her head gently up. Her face was swollen and covered in blood and dirt with tear tracks cutting through the grime, her neck was bloody and torn at were vampires had fed on her.

'Llys!' Harry said desperately 'please wake up!'

Alyssa cracked her eyes open blearily and gazed at Harry

'Harry' she managed to choke out 'I'm dreaming, you can't be here, I'm dreaming' she finished with a slight wail

Harry pulled a sharp knife out and cut the ropes binding her, when they snapped he lowered her gently to the ground in his arms

'You're not dreaming Llys' he said tearfully 'it's me'

'It is really you!' Alyssa whispered 'I prayed you would come, but I was scared you wouldn't'

'I made a promise to look after you' Harry said shrugging off his cloak, he wrapped the thick material around her shaking body and lifted her gently into his arms as he stood up, she sobbed slightly in pain but otherwise gave no indication that she was severely hurt

'We have to get out of here' Harry muttered 'I'm going to have to run for some of it, its going to hurt'

'Just get on with it' Alyssa ground out her eyes closed against the pain 'please take me away from this Hell'

Harry clutched her close to him as if she was a baby and pulled the cloak more firmly around her cold frame. Giving one last angry glance to her prison he ran from the dungeon towards the stairs.

-------

They managed to get all the way to the last corridor before their luck ran out. A vampire who was still awake entered the opposite corridor just as they were going through the door

'ESCAPE!' he screamed loudly 'PRISONER ESCAPING!'

His shouts quickly woke the vampires who could stay conscious during the day, and drew them from their resting places. Harry thundered down the corridor with Alyssa now unconscious in his arms, as he reached the last door he repeated what he had done to the cell door and blasted it from its hinges not worrying about the noise it created. He tore up the stairs as the vampires chased after him

'_Ẫỷểẁớự Ỉηίκ___' he screamed, the stone opening creaked open above him and he hurled himself through it into the waiting sunlight and relative safety

Down below the vampires were forced to stop as the sunlight leaked into the Keep. Harry looked down worriedly at Alyssa's limp figure, he needed to get her to safety and soon, he didn't know were the headquarters had moved to so Hogwarts was the only other option

Shouting came from the hole beneath him

'Get the non-vampires!' a voice yelled 'he can't have gotten far!'

Harry cursed under his breath and tried to disaperate, however there was a block on the area, cursing again Harry pushed himself back to his feet and began running through the forest paying no heed to the branches that ripped of his clothes.

---------

Sirius swept down the Grand Staircase, not taking any notice of the students that were jumping out of his way. His face was creased into a frown, his eyes were tired and his face was drawn.

It was nine in the evening and two days after the Halloween nightmare, Sirius was feeling less and less convinced with the idea that Harry would come home safely

'Professor Black!' came a shout from behind him, turning Sirius looked above him to see Lupin hurrying down the steps

'Sirius' he said drawing close to the man 'have you seen Dumbledore?'

'No' Sirius answered rubbing his eyes 'Last time I saw him was lunchtime'

'You going somewhere?' Lupin asked

'I thought I'd have a run' Sirius replied 'get my head clear'

Lupin smiled in understanding 'take a break of your mind Sirius, you also wouldn't go far wrong with some sleep'

'My Godson is missing' Sirius said miserably 'how can I sleep now?'

They walked to the main door, Lupin signalled one of the doors to open and Sirius stepped through still thinking hard about what he was going to do. Just as he felt the chill of the night air a figure appeared in front of him

Harry stood on the steps of the castle, his hair was wet from the rain water ran down the strands in rivulets, his clothes were filthy and ripped, blood was plastered to his face he gazed at Sirius with a look of sheer unadulterated relief.

In his arms he held a limp girl, she was covered in grime, muck and blood, her eyes were closed and her head hung lifelessly to on side

Harry took a step forward and held her slightly out in his exhausted arms

'Please' he whispered 'help her!'


	16. Hospital Wing Again

**Big thank you's all round, this is a very quick update and I haven't had the time to read back through it so I apologize in advance for any errors, Thank you again to :-**

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**Night Wanderer**

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Chapter Fifteen

Sirius took the girl from Harry's arm's immediately, his relief washed over with concern for the girl in his own arms

'We need to get her to the Hospital Wing' he said already turning from Harry in order to run to Madam Pomfrey. As he dashed to the Nurse he could hear Lupin and Harry behind him, undoubtedly Harry's energy was reduced to that of a normal human as he never once overtook Sirius and was slightly behind Lupin

They burst through the Hospital Wing's doors drawing Madam Pomfrey quickly out of her office, at the sight of the girl in Sirius's arms her look went straight to cool professionalism

'Put her here' she ordered gesturing to a clean bed in the empty Hospital Wing

Sirius laid her gently on the bed and Madam Pomfrey immediately started checking her over

'Alyssa?' she said loudly 'can you here me, I need you to open your eyes for me'

Harry watched the whole thing with a detached feeling, it was like he was watching the events unfold in front of him without actually being there, more like he was watching it through a window, everything was slightly distorted and slow. Lupin was crouched by the fireplace calling through it to someone, Sirius was standing next to the Nurse watching Alyssa worriedly.

Harry felt the world tip slightly to one side and then his head began to spin, he dimly heard Madam Pomfrey say

'That's a good girl, you're going to be fine, now can you lift your right arm'

No one was paying any notice to Harry, all of them were preoccupied with the Assassin. A headache was pounding in his brain worse than anything he had experienced before. Harry felt himself gasp with pain and the room tipped again

Sirius turned around and instantly ran towards him, he grabbed Harry's arm and was saying something to him, he could see Sirius's lips moving but he couldn't hear any sound. His Godfather swung his head round and Harry felt the vibrations as he shouted. Every movement was slow and heavy to Harry and colours burst in front of his eyes. Each breath tore from his throat painfully, he felt his legs fail beneath him and it was only Sirius's grasp that stopped him from completely going limp, Sirius lowered him gently onto the floor. An icy feeling was spreading through his blood, he could barely keep his eyes open, he made out the figure of Madam Pomfrey next to him, she was trying to say something as well but Harry couldn't work out what it was, a cough ripped through him and a familiar coppery taste filled his mouth, unable to breath, Harry sensed the darkness closing in on him. Surrendering himself to it he sunk into the blackness that cloaked his vision.

--------

Consciousness came slowly, like a winter night finally breaking into dawn. Harry kept his eyes shut tight against the brightness of the outside world, he could dimly hear sound around him, voices. They were all speaking quickly, a voice he recognised as Sirius's said something, at once another voice joined in it was Kay's voice, Harry felt confused, what was he doing here?, then the tone of voice Harry had begun to recognise as Dumbledore's sounded followed by the cracked tones of someone very close to him. Alyssa!

A warm hand touched his face, the scent was the smell of the nurse, Harry vaguely heard her say something about him being awake. Bodies crowded round him, warm bodies, the opposite of his cold shell. They were all speaking together, disorientation clouded his mind, he needed something, he didn't know what it was, but he felt like he should know

'He's freezing' the nurse said distantly 'I can't make him any warmer, and his injuries just won't heal no matter what I do, if we don't do something soon he'll die'

'Not if I can help it!' a shout said, agreement followed from who ever else was there

Harry tried to close of the shouting as he attempted to urge his exhausted mind into action. What did he need? What did he ache for? The answer was at the tip of his tongue

'B' he choked out, silence fell immediately and they all crowded that little bit closer

'B!' he repeated gagging faintly 'Bl!' 'Bl!'

'Blood!' he coughed out managing finally to form the word 'Need Blood!'

His own blood filled his mouth, but it was useless, he needed fresh blood from living donor.

'He's as cold as death' Kay said his well-known rough hands scratching Harry's face 'he needs life!'

Harry felt racking shivers spasm across his body as it desperately tried to warm him, blackness was fogging over him once more consuming every logical thought in his mind. He was inches away from yielding once again

Suddenly a drop of fresh blood hit his open mouth, it cleared some of the clouds but the lust of unconsciousness remained, another drop landed quickly followed by another, it wasn't enough he needed more. The contributor got closer to Harry trickling the sweetness through his fanged teeth, it was werewolf blood, Harry's senses started to slowly come back to him, as if his body was slowly powering back up. The odour of Kay filled his nose as he realised who was giving him the blood.

Harry flicked his eyes open filling them with painful brightness, he sucked in clean air, but it still wasn't enough

'more' he whispered 'need more'

Kay responded by pressing his arm to Harry's fangs, Harry didn't have the energy to even close his fangs and bite

'Bite' he heard Kay order

'Can't' he wheezed not moving his mouth

Kay pushed his arm into Harry's teeth himself, pressing the fangs through his own skin. Blood swamped Harry's dry mouth and energy flooded through his body as he swallowed the elixir.

No sooner as the energy hit him it was followed by pain, it coursed all the way through him and his back arched agonizingly as his body went into supercharge. Harry was swiftly aware of the excruciating pain in his abdomen and the ache in his body, knowing he was saved Harry went limp and tumbled into the inviting promise of oblivion.

---------

It was quiet when Harry next awoke, quiet and dark. The warmth that had fled him earlier was back, banishing the coldness that had plagued him. Wherever he was it was comfortable and warm, a cocoon of defence. However the soreness remained, a bad reminder of what had happened

'I can tell you're awake' a sharp voice said from across the room

Harry opened his eyes slowly allowing the muted artificial light to slowly filter in

'I had hoped' he groaned 'that it would be longer until I had to see you again'

'Aww' the voice mocked 'just because you ended up on a hospital bed, its no excuse to be arsy'

Harry angrily searched the Wing for Joe, he was slumped against the wall opposite Harry's bed. Joe's hair was a mess hanging about his face in a dirty scrawny way, his face was scratched and he was smoking a cigarette and dressed in dark black Assassin clothes

'I am not arsy' Harry retorted glaring at the lad 'I just happened to reach my limitations'

'Yeh death would have definitely been a limitation'

'I didn't nearly die' Harry said cautiously 'did I?

'Yes' a girls voice said from the bed next to him

Harry turned his head quickly to the side and smiled as he saw Alyssa propped up on pillows in the bed next to him, she was definitely looking better than she had done previously, her face was no longer the puffy bruised mess it had been, but was instead returned to its olive complexion, her wrists were bandaged as was her neck. Though she looked tired and in pain she nevertheless looked happy, even if the look she had fixed Harry with was serious

'You were close' she looking upset 'you nearly lost over 75 of the blood in your body' she gestured slowly to tube going into his arm, it was attached to a large capsule of red blood

'Is that even possible?' Harry asked amazed

'Well for you it appears so' Alyssa replied 'luckily you were able to conserve the little blood you had left'

'You'll inflate his head even more if you carry on' Joe said exasperated 'he's already a prat'

'Well at least I saved Llys' Harry returned looking down at his stomach underneath the black pyjama top which was swathed with bandages 'man this looks bad!'

'You have no idea' Alyssa said ignoring Harry's earlier comment, however Joe didn't

He stood up and stormed over to Harry's bed paying no attention to the closed door of Madam Pomfrey's office and the murmur's coming from within

'Are you trying to say something Fang Boy?' he said furiously 'because if you are just come out and say it!'

'As if I'd waste my time' Harry countered 'is this all because I bruised your ego Wolf Boy?'

Joe growled and extended a claw on his hand 'want a race?'

'You know I'd win' Harry said pushing himself out of his own bed and pulling out the drip spraying the blood from the capsule over the floor

'Stop It!' Alyssa said loudly 'there's been enough fighting and running as it is, and plus if you want to race I want to be part of it, and there is no way I'm getting out of bed today'

'I'm sure we can race another day if you want to join in' Joe said watching Harry and extending another claw 'but today I'm racing Fang Boy'

Harry dived at Joe suddenly taking no notice of the severity of his injuries, he caught the teenager mid-chest and drove him into a cupboard. The cupboard smashed on impact and items rained noisily down on the floor, Joe jumped back up and swung at Harry, the blow crashed into his face and pushed him to the floor. Harry jumped back up just as the people in Poppy's office came tumbling out, these included Kay, Sirius, Lupin, Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall and a few more

Kay yelled loudly 'Stop It both of you!' he made towards them with the intent of tearing them apart

Joe and Harry ignored the angry werewolf and instead glared at each other

'First one to the Lake and back' Harry challenged

'If you want fang boy' Joe grinned he ran at the window closest to him as he dived he converted into a wolf and smashed through the glass pane

Before anyone could stop him Harry had leaped right out of the window after him with a yell of delight

Alyssa was watching the happenings with bored interest as the crowd began to panic she shrugged and said 'they do this every time one of them gets hurt'

Everyone rushed to a window desperately trying to see what had happened

Alyssa smiled slightly and laughed 'well they've never done that before'

As they reached the ground Harry forced himself to levitate to avoid injury, Joe in the form a werewolf merely braced for impact, he hit the ground on his paws whining slightly as his legs buckled, Harry touched down with a thump next to him

'Well I knew cats could land on their feet' he whistled 'but I didn't realise wolves could'

'Only werewolves' Joe growled out as he switched back 'Wow we must have jumped thirty feet!'

'You're telling me' grimaced Harry as the shooting pains in his abdomen reminded him of his stupidity

Above them Madam Pomfrey leaned out of the window and screamed down 'you had better get up here this instant Mr Potter!'

Joe laughed 'now you're in trouble! He gloated

'And that goes for you to Joe!' yelled Kay causing the smile to fall off Joe's face 'and don't even think of completing that race!'

----------

When they got back to the Hospital Wing it was to be met with angry glares from all the adults

'What exactly were you thinking' Sirius demanded rounding on the both as they appeared in the doorway slightly worse for wear

Joe shifted awkwardly from foot to foot 'we were only having fun, its not like I started it'

'You started it' Harry said incredulously 'you asked me if…'

'You jumped me' Joe replied his voice rising 'you pushed me into a cupboard'

'Only to stop you getting a head start' Harry said angrily 'which you did anyway'

'You just can't admit I won' Joe snapped 'I touched ground first'

'But…' Harry began to say

'That's enough' Kay interrupted 'your stupidity speaks for itself, especially you Harry, I could say I'm surprised at you, but I'm not!'

'I'm not either' Alyssa added from her bed 'this is totally like something Harry would do!'

'Sorry' Harry said slightly ashamedly 'but I felt ok'

'You always think you're ok' Kay answered 'that's why you're sometimes your own enemy, but even you should have realised it was idiotic to jump out of a window less than six hours after you almost died'

'That bad huh' Harry said scratching his head uncomfortably trying to block out the looks he was getting from both Sirius and Kay

'You were on the Bloody Brink!' Sirius shouted 'even two more minutes that blood deprived would have been fatal and now you're gallivanting around outside with wounds that are still serious'

'Ouch' muttered Joe under his breath

'Shut UP! Kay said rounding on him 'you are stupidity personified, I knew it was a bad idea to leave the two of you alone together'

'Llys was here' Joe said defensively

'Oh yes that's right' Kay scowled 'after days alone with vampires I doubt as excellent as she is she wouldn't have been able to stop you'

'She wanted to join in' Harry grinned at her ignoring Kay's glaring eyes

Alyssa burst out laughing and opened her arms for a hug, Harry wasted no time in running over to her and giving her a huge one 'I was so worried!' he muttered 'we were all concerned the worst had happened'

'Takes a lot more than that to kill me' Alyssa laughed tightening her arms but her face looked upset 'I have never been gladder to see you!'

Lupin looked perplexed at Joe 'How?' he asked 'can you do that and keep you're head?'

'Evolution' Joe said his face growing serious 'I am one of the new breed, able to change at will and keep our own minds in place'

'Never mind that now!' Madam Pomfrey said irritably 'get back to bed this instant Mr Potter, you could do some severe harm by being up and about'

Harry resigned himself to the fact that he would be stuck in the Hospital Wing, yet he didn't have to be happy about it

'I don't like hospitals' he said annoyed

'We all know that' Kay said his voice growing softer 'but you aren't going anywhere else in a hurry at least not until you've healed the hole in your stomach'

'Wow' grinned Harry 'I have a hole, that's better than you've done Joe'

'I had to have my whole arm reattached last year' Joe said defensively 'that's bad!'

'Yeh' goaded Alyssa gently 'like a splinter'

Harry dropped onto the bed disregarding the pain that assailed him, he did however give a loud yawn causing Madam Pomfrey to begin herding people away including Dumbledore who had watched the display with faint amusement bordering on worry

'My patients need sleep' she commanded 'it's four in the morning'

'My favourite time of day' Alyssa and Harry said together causing people to smile

'Come on Joe' Kay said briskly heading to the door 'we need to tell Ivy what's happened'

'Could we leave out the bit about me and Harry' Joe asked nervously

'Not a chance' Kay said smirking evilly 'that'll be first on the list'

He looked at Harry and Alyssa sternly 'you two had better not cause anymore trouble' he ordered 'I can't be doing with it'

'We'll be good' Alyssa said waving limply with one hand

'Like angels' Harry muttered sinking into his bed

After everyone but Sirius, Lupin and Madam Pomfrey had left, Sirius spoke to Harry

'Please please don't give me multiple heart attacks all in one go' he begged smiling slightly

Harry looked down guiltily 'I'm sorry, I was just so worried about Llys I kinda forgot about myself'

'Please try not to again' Lupin said 'I don't think I could handle all that again, at least next time take us with you'

'You want to come when we attack the vampires' Harry said incredulously

'Oh yes' Sirius said 'before we were teachers we were Aurors, we know how to fight vampires


	17. Leaving

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Chapter Sixteen

The next couple of days proved a trial for both Madam Pomfrey and for the two Assassins trapped in the Hospital Wing, Harry's ill advised jump from the window had set his recovery back by about a week. Alyssa was recovering more slowly, the extended trauma inflicted upon her was taking longer to heal, her day was often spent being encouraged by Madam Pomfrey to swallow one foul potion after another.

Harry was far less tolerant of the nurse, though he had nothing against her personally it was a unpleasant task for him to be nursed for more than the maximum of ten minutes at a time before he began to lose patience.

It was two mornings after the night Harry had returned from his venture and his mood would have darkened the brightness of the sun that was beginning to rise

'This is stupid' he seethed 'how long are we expected to stay in this _place_?'

'Stop being so dramatic' Alyssa laughed glancing Harry who was lying on his bed with his arms folded, jeans had long since replaced the supposedly compulsory pyjamas 'you make it sound like a prison'

'That's what it feels like' Harry grumbled shifting slightly on the bed to try and ease the pain in his stomach

'I like it here' she said resolutely 'it's more peaceful than the prison cells of Lord Riyak'

'I'm not so sure' Harry said moodily 'I think I'd rather have to face Riyak and his gang of miscreants than spend another hour here'

The door opened and Ron and Hermione's faces peered around it

'Is she here?' Ron asked nervously

'No she went out ten minutes ago' Alyssa answered 'something about needing a break from impossible patients'

'Finally' Hermione moaned entering the Wing fully 'I thought we'd never get in'

'So what's happening around school?' Harry said interested

'Not much' Ron said following Hermione in 'everyone's still talking about you, though most of the Slytherins are convinced you constructed the whole thing to look better'

Alyssa burst out laughing at the look of surprise on Harry's face 'Now that' she said struggling for breath 'is something I find completely plausible for Harry to do!'

'What pretend to have a vampire attack me?' Harry said indignantly 'what, to make myself more popular?'

'No' Alyssa said calmly 'for fun most probably'

Harry chose to ignore her and turned to Hermione instead 'where's Neville?'

'Detention with Snape' Ron answered 'he punched Malfoy in the middle of potions'

'What for?' Harry said surprised

'Malfoy was going on and on about how odd you were and how he knew all along that there was something different about you' Hermione joined in 'and then Malfoy went on to say that Neville and you should team up to become even more obsessed with fame and attention'

'So Nev walloped him' Ron laughed dropping onto the end of Harry's bed and pushing his feet out of the way 'Malfoy fell backwards onto Crabbe's potion'

'Let me guess Crabbe's potion was faulty' Harry's face splitting into a big smile

'In the best possible way' Hermione admitted 'Malfoy got turned into a girl'

'You are joking!' Harry said throwing a chocolate frog to Alyssa his previous mood forgotten

'It was the best thing I have ever seen' Ron said happily 'Colin Creevey came in with a message and got a picture of a blonde haired girl, it was spread around the whole school by lunchtime. Malfoy's face' he trailed off dreamily

'So who's he got detention with?' Alyssa asked

'Snape' Hermione replied 'he's scrubbing the floors to get rid of dried potion gunk'

'How long for?' Harry said genuinely interested

'Until every inch is clean' Ron said pulling a face 'we're not expecting him until the end of the weekend'

'I don't envy him one bit' Hermione said 'I was just amazed he didn't put Ron in detention as well'

'What exactly are you doing in here?' came the annoyed voice of Madam Pomfrey 'You two do not have permission to be here, get out this instant!'

'Leaving' Ron said hastily jumping off the bed 'we were just…just'

'Out!' she said again putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the two sixth years

Hermione and Ron hurried past her and out of the door, as they exited the Hospital Wing Kay and Joe entered and after a nod to the Nurse he walked over to the two teenagers.

'How are you feeling today?' Kay asked

'She's releasing me within the hour' Harry smiled hopefully at Madam Pomfrey

'Actually' she said drawing closer to the beds 'I think you will be able to leave here today'

'Seriously?' Harry asked swinging his legs off the bed

'That's assuring you act responsibly' she said firmly 'and everyday have someone check on your wounds and make sure you take your potions'

'What about me?' Alyssa said hopefully

'That's why we're here' Joe grinned 'we have other ideas'

'What like?' Harry said curiously

'Ivy has set up new headquarters for us' Kay informed him 'the medical wing is newly furnished we have been talking and it would be better and safer to move Alyssa there and you as well'

'Leave Hogwarts' Harry said shocked

'We need to regroup' Joe added 'all of the Assassins are being called back then reassigned, they'll probably put someone else in charge on this area'

'When do we leave?' Harry asked, the shock had turned into numb horror at the thought of leaving his newly found Godfather and friends

'Tonight' Kay answered 'we're going to go outside the apparition barrier and apperate to Finland from there, you'll have to rejoin the Hanskida Collage'

-------

As soon as Harry had been released from the Wing he left it with the promise to be ready in a couple of hours, his things were being sent on at a later date. He headed for the DADA office, he barely skimmed his knuckles on the door before he pushed it open. Sirius looked up from his desk and the stack of papers he'd been marking

'Harry' he smiled 'I was going to come and see you this afternoon, but it looks like Pomfrey let you go'

'I'm going back' Harry said miserably

'What!' Sirius said standing up and plonking his quill on the table 'Why?'

'We're all being called back' Harry muttered dropping into the comfy chair next to Sirius's desk 'Ivy ordered it, after what happened with Llys'

'Are you coming back?' Sirius asked unable to believe he could be losing his Godson all over again

Harry shook his head slightly 'not for school, I think I'm going back to Hanskida'

Sirius fell back into his chair disbelief evident in his face 'I don't believe it' he said quietly 'this can't be happening'

I'm sorry' Harry said 'I'll come and visit you and Moony, you know if you don't mind'

'Mind!' Sirius said standing back up and striding over to Harry 'I would love it if you came back' he pulled Harry up and into a tight embrace 'just please don't leave me for good'

Harry hugged the older man back savouring the hug 'Thank you' he whispered

They drew apart with Sirius looking decidedly sad, his eyes watering slightly. Lupin chose that moment to walk in, he took in Harry dejected form and Sirius's miserable face and looked expectantly at the two of them

'What's going on?'

'Harry's leaving' Sirius said not bothering to soften the blow

'When?' Lupin asked his face immediately mirroring Sirius's

'Tonight'

-------

Harry returned to the Wing with a small bag thrown over his shoulder, he was dressed in is combat gear and his sword was attached to the back of his cloak. Alyssa was propped up on her bed dressed in loose trousers and a jumper, she smiled when he came in as if sensing what Harry was feeling. Kay and Joe were waiting impatiently both decked out in the necessary fighting gear

'Well look who finally decided to turn up' Joe drawled as he saw Harry

'You said six and it's six' Harry snapped back

'It's actually five past' Joe countered 'does being a half vampire screw up your intelligence quota?'

'I think it would be better asking a werewolf like you' Harry replied instantly 'as I seem to remember you thinking France was Germany'

'It was dark and I had a concussion' Joe smirked 'I didn't know were we were'

'Enough both of you' Kay said bending down to pick up Alyssa

She grimaced evidently as the movement caused pain to her tender body, Alyssa wrapped her arms around his neck to try to maintain some control on how much she was jerked about. Madam Pomfrey hovered worriedly next to her, the anxiety she was feeling was noticeable

'We'd better get going then' Kay said striding to the door as if Alyssa weighed as much as a feather

'Floo me if your Healer wants any information on what potions I gave her' instructed the nurse 'but I think I included it all on the note'

'I think that will be enough' Alyssa said appreciatively 'thank you for all the help and comfort you've given me this past week'

'Thank you as well' Harry said nodding to the Nurse 'and thank you for the eye drops, they have been a great help'

'Just you remember not to do to much too soon' she said to him firmly 'you might have healed quickly but you are still recovering from a serious wound'

'I'll be careful' Harry promised following Kay and Joe

-----

The Entrance Hall contained quite a few students who were waiting to go into dinner, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sirius, Lupin, Neville, Ron and Hermione were all waiting by the door. As the four of them descended the stairs the students began to whisper and point at the three well equipped fighters and at the pale girl in the man's arms. They walked over to the group and waited for Dumbledore to open the doors

'We'll contact you soon' Kay said to the headmaster

'I'll count on it' Dumbledore replied

Harry was saying his own goodbyes, Hermione gave him a big hug her eyes filling with tears

'Bye' she managed to get out

'See ya soon mate' Ron said gloomily 'we'll write'

'Yeh see you soon' Neville agreed

'I'll count on it' Harry smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes

'Keep yourself safe' Lupin said giving Harry a hug

'I will' Harry promised turning to Sirius who looked even worse than he had done when Harry had broken the news

'Promise me you'll contact me if you're in trouble' he said gravely

'Promise' Harry said

Sirius pulled him into a hug ignoring the watching students

'Wherever you are Hogwarts will always be here should you wish to return' Dumbledore said sincerely 'it was an honour to have you as a student'

'Thank you for having me' Harry said dejectedly 'I'm grateful you gave me the chance to study here, even if it was only for two months'

'We need to get going' Kay said reminding Harry of the risks of dawdling

The doors opened and the cold wind rushed in, Kay headed straight into it holding Llys close to him, Joe went next wrapping his cloak around him tightly. Harry gave one last goodbye before following the other three into the dark night.

They hurried quickly down the path and through the gates, Joe transformed into his werewolf form to extend his senses and keep him warm. Harry walked slightly behind them his heart heavy at thought of leaving. Eventually they reached a point on the path outside and Kay stopped walking, Joe turned back and rubbed his hands together to warm them up

'You know the address' Kay said quietly 'I'll go first, then Joe then Harry'

Both boys nodded and waited for Kay to dissaperate, Joe barely paused as he disappeared as well. Harry however turned back to look at the direction they'd just come, in the distance he could make out the turrets of the castle on the warm glows of light seeping out of the windows. He thought of the laughter and happiness that echoed from it. His breath caught in his throat and then he too disaperated.


	18. Headquarters

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**apothecary in training**

Chapter Seventeen

Harry arrived at the headquarters with the sky black outside the windows. The new temporary headquarters were situated in an old manor house that looked previously derelict. Fires had been set at the aged hearths and rugs had been thrown across the cold flagstones, the ceilings were high and crumbling and lit candles were jammed into the holders. Cloaked figures were hurrying from side to side with more than a few flashing Alyssa relieved smiles. The twins that had been fighting the vampires rushed past waving daggers and bickering happily, when they spotted the four of them they waved cheerfully before carrying on.

'We'd better get Alyssa to the infirmary' Kay said striding forwards towards a staircase 'are you coming Harry?'

'Yeh' Harry muttered following the man

Harry followed the assassin towards the hospital section dragging his feet slightly as he thought of just how much he didn't want to be here

'Harry a word please' came a calm voice from the bottom of the stairs

Harry tuned halfway up the staircase and looked back down to see the woman in charge of the Vampire Assassins. Ivy, she was standing with her arms crossed over her black robes with her black hair tied in a severe knot on the top of her head

'Now?' he said

'Kay's told you I've called everyone back' she said calmly 'I know need to know where Lord Riyak is, then we can organise a full scale attack'

'I'm not actually sure' Harry said awkwardly 'I just jumped through the portal and arrived near the Keep, I was pretty focused on getting Alyssa back and there were no landmarks, just lots of trees'

'Well that's no good' Ivy said frowning 'we need to find a way to destroy Riyak, he's becoming more and more of a threat of late'

'Why did you call me back from Hogwarts?' Harry asked unable to keep some of the bitterness out of his voice

'We are all here to serve a purpose' she said without emotion 'family ties may be desirable but at the end of the day, they only get you killed'

'You get killed without family as well' Harry said coldly

'It doesn't hurt as much' she said 'and it doesn't hurt the ones you leave behind'

'So what' he said angrily 'we should just be alone in case we hurt somebody when we die? I thought the saying was 'that that doesn't kill me can only make me stronger''

'There is a saying for everything' she replied 'now follow me'

She walked towards a corridor off the entrance hall and Harry reluctantly hurried down the steps and after her. She led him down the stone corridor and into cold grey room, the only thing in the room two large maps of the world pinned one wall, one was covered in red and black dots and the second map was covered in purple dots and white dots with black writing on them

'What are these?' Harry asked curiously

'This map' she gestured to the red and black dotted map 'is the map that shows were all Assassins have been situated in red, the black dots are were Assassins have been killed'

'And the other one?'

'The purple dots are where vampires have been reported or killed at' she said shaking her head at the large number of dots 'and the white ones mark where Assassins are assigned'

'Why have you brought me here?' Harry said gazing at the map

'Trying to jog your memory' Ivy said staring at him 'does anything on this map look familiar?'

'No' Harry shook his head 'it was just a forest, I ran through a forest for hours it didn't seem to end'

'Densely wooded area' she said looking disappointed 'that could be any two thirds of the countries on this map'

'What is going to happen now?' Harry said beginning to get annoyed 'Riyak is still out there and he's still killing innocent people'

'What exactly would you like me to do about it?' she said frostily 'without the location of his Keep we are in the same position we were before Alyssa was kidnapped'

'There's nothing we can do?'

'That is why I have called everyone back' Ivy said 'then the other leaders and myself with delegate Assassins to new locations, we are hoping that if we rotate people we will get a new look on different countries'

'A different slant on the same picture' Harry said in understanding

'Precisely' she conceded 'we were thinking of sending you to Lithuania'

'LITHUNAIA!' Harry shouted in disgust 'what the hell am I going to do there?'

'Your job!' she snapped back 'what has come over you? You've never disagreed before now'

'I have a Godfather and friends in Britain' Harry said 'after all these years I've found out who my family were and found people that care about me because of who I am not just because I'm a half vampire!'

'You think Alyssa loves you just because of who you are!' Ivy said raising an eyebrow 'or Rhys loved you?'

'They both loved me' Harry admitted 'but if I wasn't a half vamp I'd probably still be on the streets, my Godfather has loved me since I was first born'

'This will be discussed' she said turning away from Harry 'though I can't promise you anything'

'This isn't fair' Harry said quietly

'Life isn't fair' she answered 'the sooner you learn that the better, emotional attachments lead to mistakes and bad judgement'

'Sometimes you can be a real bitch' Harry said

'I wouldn't be able to be in charge if I wasn't' she said stalking from the room

---------

There was a large table set downstairs but Harry chose to go to the temporary infirmary and talk to Alyssa instead, she was propped up in a single bed with a tray of food. She smiled when Harry entered the large room and gestured for him to come over

'What's up with you' she said perceptively tucking into a piece of her dinner

'The usual' Harry answered picking up a plastic sealed bag of blood that was on the side 'um yummy A-'

Alyssa smiled again as he tore the top off and took a gulp and swallow it after nearly chucking it back out

'Oh that is disgusting!' he said taking a swig of water 'how old is that blood'

'Couple months at least' she smirked 'and you usually moan if they're older than two weeks'

'It should be illegal to keep blood that long' Harry grumbled

'So are you going to tell me what the matter is?' she asked again

'Ivy's talking about moving me to Lithuania' Harry said thudding down on the bed next to hers

'And you don't want to go?'

'Would you?' he said seriously

'Not if I was in your position' she said quietly 'I saw the way you were at Hogwarts'

'What do you mean?' Harry asked confused

'I haven't seen you that happy in a long time' she replied seriously 'I've seen you happy, but it was when Rhys was alive that I last saw you that happy'

'You're not joking?' Harry said softly

'I would never joke about something like this' Alyssa answered 'you deserve to be happy'

'Ivy said _emotional attachments lead to mistakes and bad judgement_' he mimicked her sharp voice

'She's one to talk' scoffed Alyssa 'she never avoided emotional attachments when she was our age or even when she was older, why should we not get that experience?'

'So you think I shouldn't listen to her?' Harry said hesitantly

'She may be in charge' Alyssa said taking a mouthful of her meal 'and she may be good at that, but she doesn't have the right to send you away from what you want, it's not up to her'

'Seriously?' Harry asked amazed she was saying this

'She not all powerful' Alyssa continued 'and we're a democracy, so if you don't want to go to Lithuania tell her that'

'I can envision that conversation' Harry said mockingly 'she'd probably bite me to see if she could create a hybrid of vampire and werewolf and then use it as an excuse for me to go to Lithuania'

'Do whatever you want to do' Alyssa said seriously 'if you want to go back then you should go, there needs to be someone there and you've got just as much right if not more for that person to be you!'

'I don't want to leave you and the others though' Harry said miserably 'look what happened last time, the same could happen again to you or Kay or Joe or any of the others'

'Joe and Kay make a good team' Alyssa said dismissively 'and most of the time they're no where near headquarters and the same can be said for me once I'm well'

The door to the infirmary opened and Joe walked through looking as miserable as Harry felt

'Been talking to Ivy' he moaned 'she wants me to be the one to go back to the UK which also means that I won't be partnered with Kay he's going to get put with some newbie that's just graduating the training programme'

'She wants you to go back to the UK!' Harry said with disbelief bordering on anger 'I've had it!'

He jumped up from the bed and swept towards the door 'Ivy may be good in some cases but this time she's gone to far!'

'Harry's right' Joe said not looking at all perturbed with openly agreeing with Harry 'we should have some say in who we're partnered with and where we are sent'

'You'd better tell me what happens!' Alyssa called restricted to the hospital bed 'I want every detail'

--------

The two teenagers headed back down the stairs, in the now empty Entrance Hall the twins were messing around taking advantage of the lack of adults

'Oi!' Joe called making them jump 'where's Ivy and the rest of the Assassins?'

'Ivy called a meeting of the senior fighters' Atton (the boy) the replied 'said something about certain issues needing to be addressed'

'Where?' Harry asked his sister

'Opposite the map room' Anona answered looking curiously at the two older boys 'why do you need to talk to them?'

'Doesn't matter' Joe said dismissively as he jogged after Harry's retreating form 'probably doesn't affect you anyway'

'We'll find out!' Atton called at the their departing backs

'We always do!' Anona yelled

---------

Harry reached the meeting room first and after knocking abruptly on it not waiting for an answer he pushed the door open and went in with Joe behind him

'My partner is Joe!' Kay was saying loudly the palms of his hands were flat on the large table in the centre of the room and he had risen up from his chair in obvious frustration'

Everyone turned to look at Harry and Joe, the large table had ten of the higher-ranking Assassins dotted around it, most of them supporting scars

'What is the meaning of this interruption?' Ivy said dangerously glaring at both of them

'If you are discussing our futures' Harry said coldly 'we have every right to be included, we are not allowing others to decide what will happen to us'

'Harry's right' Ciaren Russell said to Harry's immense surprise, the second in command had never before done anything like he was doing now- other Assassins looked equally shocked but more than a few looked like they agreed with Ciaren

'We cannot dictate the Assassins, they must have input as to the future of our mission'

'We have always been equals' Drei another distinguished Assassin added her opinion 'we value you Ivy but after over a three hundred years we must adhere to the ruled set down by our founder,_ Each and Every Assassin has the unprecedented right to decide how they will fight in the war, and no other Assassin no matter what their rank can force them to do something they don't want to do_'

'Joe is my partner' Kay said determinedly making the teen next to Harry glow with pride at the esteemed fighter's proclamation

'I'm going back to the UK' Harry said resolutely 'I'm not giving up on the opportunity of a Godfather, I'll still fight just as hard for the cause and will kill as many vampires as possible but I'll do it while living in the UK'

Ivy leant back in her chair looking considerably disgruntled at what was happening 'if that is what you truly want' she said looking at Harry 'though it will be a couple of months before you can return, I need to smooth things over with the Minister about you and your condition and your safety at Hogwarts and whether or not you are allowed to return'

'But I can go back?' Harry said unable to believe his ill thought out idea was actually working even though there was the chance that he wouldn't be allowed back

'If the Minister and headmaster consent to it' she nodded 'and Joe can stay partnered with Kay for the foreseeable future'

-----------

One month later

Joe, Harry and Alyssa were crouched outside an industrial site. It was a dark night with the clouds covering most of the stars in the sky, the site was filthy and the ground was covered in dirt. There was an abandoned factory building opposite them, it was a mass of corrugated metal with scattered windows at the top a few were broken and yellow light leaked out into the dark area outside illuminating slightly.

This was the reason why they were concealed behind a heap of forgotten rubbish bags and bins, they were ignoring the smell just about. Harry turned from his observations of the factory to look at his two companions.

Alyssa was recovered from her ordeal and she had a look of utter concentration on her face as she reviewed her first active mission back, she was wearing dark black trousers with black combat boots and a dark jacket, her hair was tied firmly behind her head a handle of a sword poked out from behind her back and her wand was grasped in her hand.

Joe was looking mildly interested in what was to come, he was also dressed in black and covered in knives, his wand was still in its holster along with his other weapons- he would always transform his arms into clawed weaponry and would only resort to using other methods if he was unable to fight as a part werewolf.

'How many?' he whispered

'Four guards at both doors' Harry replied 'all the other vamps are inside the building'

'Me and Llys can take the ones at the back if you take the ones at the front' Joe said thinking 'then we can trap them in there'

'Remember to be quiet' Alyssa said edging forwards 'if any of them try to get out they'll know something's happening'

'Meet at the west side in ten minutes' Harry murmured as he streaked off into the darkness making sure he skirted along other empty buildings and kept to the shadows

The four vampires were standing side by side and Harry smiled at their stupidity, it made them much easier to target than if they had kept close together. He couldn't fight them in close combat because it would alert the others, if there had been two of them they would have been able to as they could have quickly taken down two each, this was a method Alyssa and Joe were probably using.

Sighing Harry replaced his wand it's holster and pulled his bow out, he loaded two arrows and shot them quickly, milliseconds after they had left his arrow he loaded two more and aimed them at the other two vamps.

The four arrows hit dead on in the hearts and dusted them before they even registered the attack. Harry snuck forwards and pulling his wand back out ran to the doors and muttered a locking spells on the doors, they would hold out against a surge of vampires for a few minutes but hopefully that would be all that was needed. Loud voices were coming from within the factory and it had been enough to cover any excess sounds

Harry jogged to the meeting point as Alyssa and Joe appeared, Joe's claws were turning back to hands but there was obviously blood on them.

'Ready then?' Alyssa asked

Joe and Harry nodded and drew circular devices from the folds of their cloaks, they swirled with different colours and were made of a glass-like substance. Though they looked harmless they were anything but for vampires.

The three of them pulled on dark sunglasses and peered through the dark lenses to the windows at the top of the building

'After three' Joe whispered 'I'll aim for the middle, Harry you aim for the left and Llys has the right'

'Three…Two…One' Llys counted

As soon as she said one, the three of them threw the circular devices as hard as possible at the windows and almost as quickly threw another. The glowing vials smashed through the windows with a tinkling of glass and exploded.

It was a blast of an irradiated substance that mimicked sunlight, each bomb covered an area of at least thirty metres. Immediately screams of pain ripped through the night and hammering sounding at the doors, the three Assassins still squinting from the brightness of the blast pulled their wands out and yelled

'Fanatus!'

The wards on the doors broke down and vampires fell out, their skin was falling of their faces and their bodies were covered in burns, a lot of them were also on fire desperate to escape from the lit area.

They came upon the barrier if they managed to scramble past their fallen brethren, some still had the life force left to scream with frustration as the fake sunlight burn their bodies- not exactly humane but these creatures had killed thousands of humans between them.

Finally the screams halted and the last few vampires fell. The light dimmed down and the three of them pulled of their glasses and stalked to the open doors still wary, what greeted them was a floor covered in dust at least three inches thick

'They're all dead' Alyssa said calmly 'must have been at least a thousand in here'

'I wish they were all like that' Joe said kicking some of the dust

'Then again you never did like hard work did you' Harry said unable to resist the comeback

--

Movement came from behind them and they whipped around expectantly only to see Ivy, Kay and Ciaren walking into the factory

'Congratulations' Ivy said her voice stoic 'though there are still a few areas you need to improve on'

Alyssa rolled her eyes

'Why are you watching us?' she asked

'We needed to make sure all of you were still up to Assassin standard' Ciaren replied 'suffice to say you passed'

'Well obviously' Joe said earning a growl of warning from Kay

'Indeed' Ivy continued 'I need to speak with the three of you back at headquarters though, especially Harry, I have got some news about whether you are allowed back'

**Again I am very sorry. Luv SpikyStar x x **


End file.
